The Challenge with Being Miles Away
by friendsfan808
Summary: He has total faith in their love that he wanted her to go, but they say long distance relationships never last. Will they beat the odds or just be another example? RnR. Please Review!
1. Default Chapter

Hey guys...I'm sure that there are a couple of fics out there taking place right after the finale and I don't know if someone is doing something like this, but if so, I really didn't know and it was not intentional. An idea kept on bugging me and I decided to write it down to see what I come up with and this is what I came up so far. Don't get me wrong because I'm happy that Ross and Rachel finally ended up together the way they did in the episode, but a part of me kind of wanted Rachel to take the job in Paris because she came a long way since first season and I felt she truly deserved the opportunity for that chance to work in the fashion capital of the world (please don't hate me for that).

This fic is untitled at this moment, but I plan to come up with a title and feel free to pitch one along if you can figure it out quicker than I can and I'll consider it. Anyone with questions, put it in the review or e-mail me at friendsfan808hotmail.com. Also, any writers or readers on fanfiction.net with MSN messenger can try to chat with me because I may need another peoples opinion about certain story ideas and stuffs.

Sorry for the long authors note and I'll leave you to it. Hopefully it wasn't that bad and please leave a review. Thanks!

Untitled: Chapter 1  
by friendsfan808

Saying goodbye is always a hard thing to do, even if they are only moving out of the city, but to Phoebe, Joey, Rachel, and Ross, it felt like something else greater has come to a close. They know that the friendship will always be there, but it seems that it wouldn't be the same anymore without having Monica and Chandler occupying apartment twenty, where each friend has spent some time living in the comfy area known to be one of their main hangouts. A sad day indeed to see their dearest friends embark on a new chapter in their lives as newly made parents in the suburbs.

After a final farewell cup of coffee, Ross and Rachel enters Ross's apartment. They're holding hands and have sad looks on their face as reality finally hit them that Monica and Chandler isn't one look away from seeing them. They sit on the couch and Rachel leans her head against his shoulder. They sat in silence for a while until Rachel spoke

"I can't believe they actually moved out of that place." She is still in a bit of disbelief and Ross was feeling the same way too. "I'm sad that they won't be less than five minutes away anymore, but I couldn't be more happy for those two."

Ross nodded. "They've been waiting so long for this and I'm glad that my sister finally got what she wanted for a long time now, two kids and a husband that she would love unconditionally."

Rachel lays down, face up, lying her head on Ross' lap while he strokes her forehead. They both remain quiet, enjoying this moment of tranquility and silence. Ross is in deep thought as he thought about the events that happened in the last 48 hours and it's mind-boggling. Before he could go any further, Rachel interrupted his train of thought as she stood up.

"I'm going to take a long bath and could you please call my mother to check up on Emma."

"Sure Rach." Ross agreed.

"Thanks Ross." Rachel gives Ross a quick peck on the lips and exits.

Ross sits for a couple of seconds then stands up and heads towards the kitchen, deciding that he needs a beer. He grabs a bottle of beer from the fridge and sits at the dinning table. He takes a gulp of beer and his mind continues to recall the past events that happened in the last two days.

First was Rachel's going away party that really forced him to face the fact that Rachel would be leaving and he wasn't totally prepared mentally to deal with it. Right now, he's not too sure what possessed him to blow up at her at her apartment when she didn't give him her goodbye and she sure made her reasons well known as she showed up at this very apartment to explain her reasons clearly. Ross was so surprised by her outburst that he couldn't help but reach out to her in some way and the kiss was the only quick thing that he came up. He was surprised that she responded the way that she did, but he did nothing to stop it and just enjoyed the moment. The next day came that Ross dreaded and it was the day that Rachel was scheduled to leave. He thought that their night together would be a enough reason for her to stay, but apparently that wasn't the case. He badly wanted to tell her how he feels but the fear of rejection was too great that he just let her walked out of Mon and Chan's apartment after seeing the beautiful twins welcome home. It was a difficult decision for him but thankfully for Phoebe's faith in them and Joey's words, it finally pushed him off the edge to do something about it. So he did, as his adventure to get the love of his life back begun and with Phoebe behind the wheel.

Ross starts to laugh with what they had to go through to get to Rachel and it seems like all sorts of obstacles were always trying to block their way. He mentally notes to himself to never again get in a car without seatbelts and have Phoebe as his driver.

Ross's mind gets back on track as he remember telling Rachel how he felt after finally getting to her. When she decided to still get on the plane, it admit that it hurt a whole lot and his heart sank as he felt like it was over. Returning home, he least expected to have a message from Rachel and he sat dejectedly, listening to what she had to say. It all happened quick as he heard her trying to get off the plane that it made him jump off his seat once her message got cut. He rewound the tape frantically, trying to hear if she made it off the plane. She shows up at the doorway and he is shocked to see her there that he just went up to her and gave her a kiss.

After declaring their feelings towards one another, you would've expected that everything is right, but somehow Ross feels something else that he doesn't exactly know for himself. He stands up and he decides that he needs a bit of fresh air to try to figure it out.

They say that walking helps clear up the mind and Ross was starting to get to that place as he felt some sense of clarity to explain the weird feeling that he just started to have. Guilt was ridding over him and he knew it had something to do with Rachel. Don't get him wrong because he got what he wished for and yet he still felt extremely guilty for her staying. It was because of a job that chipped the seemingly unbreakable rock that lead to their first breakup and he wasn't about to have it be the reason for it this time. He takes a deep breath and after an hour of walking mindlessly, in his heart he knew it is something that he had to do.

Rachel sat on Ross's bed, dialing a number on the telephone wondering where Ross has gone. She's worried where Ross went as it seems like he's been gone for a while and she don't recall hearing Ross telling her that he would step out. She tried to call his cell phone a number of times but she always got his voicemail. She called her mom to see if she heard from him and her mom said that he didn't. "Don't worry sweetie, I'm sure that he just went for a walk. After all, it is a beautiful day," Sandra tried to reassure her daughter but Rachel isn't all that comforted by that statement. Exasperated, she exhaled and laid back on the bed.

"Geller, you better have a good explanation for this!" She yelled. Rachel puts her hands to her eyes in frustration and tries to think where he would be. Silent tears begins to fill Rachel's eyes and she has no clue what's going on with Ross. It's not only him who is sadden with the move because she is too and Phoebe and Joey. She's so preoccupied that she didn't notice his presence at the door.

"Hi." Ross greeted softly. He knew that he had a lot of explaining to do for his sudden disappearance and he hoped that he could finish before she starts going off at him.

Rachel thought she heard is voice and she sat up. There he was with his face emotionless as she runs up to him with a huge wave of relief washing over her and hugging him as to never let him go. She then remembers what he has put her through and she breaks the hug, slapping him on the arm with her emotions turning from relief to anger.

"Where the hell have you been?! I've been worried sick about you and you didn't have the decency to tell me that you stepped out! For all I know, you could've been hurt or even worst!"

Ross just stood there and he couldn't help but notice how cute she was being right now. His face remains emotionless, having Rachel confused why he's not responding.

"What are you waiting for? What do you have to say for yourself?" She wanted to hear something, anything from him that 'we were on a break' would've been better than him just standing there and having a hard face to read.

"These are for you." Ross pulls out a bouquet of lilies from behind his back and he smiles sheepishly.

Rachel is surprised as she takes the bouquet and starts to smell it. "Thank you."

"I know that it doesn't excuse me for what I did, but please let me explain."

"You better."

Rachel sits on the bed, followed by Ross. Ross takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, knowing that it's best that he get it out now. He grabs both of her hands and looks at her lovingly as he starts to begin his speech that he practiced while walking back to his apartment.

"Before I start, I would like to say that I love you and nothing would stop me from doing so. My love for you started more than a decade ago and I now find myself loving you ten times more than I did when I was a teen. Even though you weren't my girlfriend, my love for you continued to grow and I thank you for remaining my friend after all of the things that came between us."

Panic and fear was in her mind as she didn't know where this conversation was leading. "Okay Ross, you're scaring me. What's going on?"

"I want you to go to Paris." Ross said it casually and Rachel didn't see this coming that she just sat there. She's obviously shock and trying to see if he's serious.

"If this is a joke, you better stop now because it is not funny. As I recall, it was you who didn't want me to get on the plane."

"I know, Rach and no, I'm not kidding. I really want you to go." He said it with the same tone as he did previously that it made Rachel wonder what brought on this sudden change of heart.

"But why? What brought on to this?"

Ross shrugged. "While you were in the shower, I felt this feeling that I couldn't explain and I tried to figure out what it meant. I needed to clear my head, so I took a walk. After countless footsteps, I finally had some sense of clarity and I figured out what I was feeling." Ross took a break to see if she was listening and saw that she was hanging on to every one of his word with her pleading eyes begging him to continue. "I felt somewhat guilty that you're here because I asked you to. Don't get me wrong that I don't want you here because I do, but I feel as if there's something too good to pass up for you out there, specifically in Paris, France. You worked your way up the ladder and you truly deserve this opportunity. You've learned all that you could at Ralph Lauren and I feel that it's time that you branched out. The pays great and they're open to make any accommodations that you desire to make things comfortable for us. You said it yourself that you're scared, but in a good way. So go out there, do your best and always know that if you don't feel right, then come back. At least you can say that you tried."

Before Ross knew what was happening, Rachel throws her whole body weight on an unprepared Ross and he falls back. She smiles as she looks at the man she loves but he notice it quickly fades and he knew what question she was going to ask.

"What about us, Ross?" She asked as you can sense the worry in her voice.

"Well if we both mean what we say then I have nothing to worry about. I know that it would be difficult at first but I'm sure we can cope with it. Besides the students finals are coming up this week and the best part of being a professor is the breaks that comes with it. It'll take me a week at max to grade their final and turn in their final grades but after that, my time is reserved for you. I'll fly out to Paris and stay with you and Emma the whole summer." He had some sort of confidence in his voice but that still wasn't enough insuring for Rachel to go.

"Sure that's three months, but what if it's not enough."

"I knew you would ask that question. Nothing to worry about because remember, I just got tenured and I could go on sabbatical when I want to."

"Yeah, but my family and friends are here." She asked as still wasn't phased with the idea.

"Sure, but that's why they invented the telephone and also, you can get a web camera for the computer and we could have video conversations using the messengers all the time."

Rachel smiles and kisses him on the lips. She can't believe that she was hearing those words from the man she loves and she feels grateful that he support her in what she's doing in life.

"I love you and thanks Ross."

"You're welcome."

They hug and both don't know what to expect, but they know that it'll be okay...or so they hope.

"What, you're letting her go?" Joey asked and Ross simply nodded.

Ross came over with Emma and just told him that Rachel's going to Paris. Joey is on the stool across the counter and is in disbelief as he stares at Ross, standing against the counter.

"Why? You were the one who drove from hell and back to get her and now you're letting her go just like that?"

"I'm not letting her go just like that. I'm just letting her do something that she deserve to do."

"Whatever man. I just don't get you."

"See it from my point of view, man. If I had a grant to do a dig that I worked so hard to get, would she tell me not to go?" Ross reasoned and Joey started to kind of see it from his point, but he still can't believe his decision.

Ross takes a look at his watch and sees that he needs to go. He picks up Emma from the La-Z Boy and heads towards the door, followed behind by Joey.

"I'll see you later, Joe. I'm taking Rachel to the airport shortly."

"I can't believe that you're really doing this, but I give you credit. I'm not going to wish you luck because I know that you both don't need it and you'll find a way to make it work."

"Thanks Joey."

They hug for a short time and Ross and Emma exits.

Back at Ross's apartment, Rachel and Phoebe are there, sitting on the couch while Monica is on speaker phone. She just revealed that Ross wants her to go to Paris and Monica is surprised while Phoebe is a little bit ticked off.

"What?! All that driving for nothing?! Where is he, I'm so going to pound on him."

"Calm down Pheebs, it wasn't all for nothing." Rachel said as she tried to calm her down.

"How so? You're going to Paris anyway."

"Come on, what happened to the support I had earlier this week?"

"Yeah, but....Monica?"

"Don't bring me into this."

"Come on, what happened to the support I had earlier this week?" Rachel asked.

"How do you feel about this whole thing now that you and Ross just got back together? Is this what you really want to do?" Monica asked.

"Absolutely. I always knew that it was a great opportunity but Ross made it sound easy, you know? I know it's easier said than done, but I would never know until I try." Rachel answered.

"I still can't believe Ross said all of those things to you." Phoebe said.

"I know Pheebs, I am still surprised myself."

"Speaking of which, where is he?" Monica asked.

The door opens and Ross enters with Emma. He puts down Emma and she runs towards Rachel, yelling "mama".

"Where's who?" Ross asked.

Phoebe stands up and starts to twist Ross's right ear.

"Ouch Pheebs! What was that for?" Ross asked, confused wondering what he did to deserve that.

"For making me help you chase someone who is still going to Paris anyway."

" I should've expected this since I pretty much got the same thing from Joey."

" How did he take it?" Rachel asked.

"At first he was confused but I later made him see it my point of view. By the way, did you tell Monica and Chandler."

"No need, we're right here." Monica answered.

"Oh. Sorry to break this little reunion, but if Ms. Green want to catch her flight, we would have to leave right now."

"Fine and remember what I said Rachel, don't turn into French bitch." Phoebe said.

"I know Pheebs." Rachel said as she chuckled and hug.

"I wish I was there so I could give you a hug." Monica said.

"I know and I promise to call you once I get there."

"It's a deal. Bye Rach, have a safe trip."

"Bye Mon."

Rachel hangs up the phone and looks at Ross. He puts the best smile on his face and he knew that he made the right decision. He walks up to her and gives her a kiss as he slipped his hand into hers.

"Well madam, your plane awaits." Ross said in the best French accent that he could come up with.

So...what do you guys think? I'm pretty nervous about this one and please leave a review. I've already typed up the second chapter and I'll post it later today if I get the chance.

Different subject...but if anyone has read my other fic titled _Who'd said it'll be easy?_, give me your opinion if I should continue it because I'm seriously thinking of dropping it completely and deleting it off the site. If I get enough response, I'll try to focus back on it, but I have no guarantees. You've been advised.

Thanks a bunch guys!


	2. Chapter 2

Hey everybody! Sorry for the delay, but a mixture of me getting back from vacation, family who I rarely see comes from Oahu and Idaho because of graduation parties, and being too tired to write, was a factor to this chapter being posted later than I would've wanted. Special thanks to those who has read & reviewed my first chapter. Really made my day to know at least one person read this :)

This chapter takes place two weeks after Rachel has gone to Paris and well...that's all you need to know for now and enjoy. BTW, Please leave me a review!!! It is what keeps me motivated to continue.

**Disclaimer: No way am I making any profits from this and the _Friends _characters doesn't belong to me, but to the wonderful creators who had people looking forward to Thursday nights for the past ten years.**

* * *

The Challenge with Being Miles Away: Chapter 2 

One seventy-five over two-hundred, Ross marks down the score on the last test of the finals he had to grade. All he had to do was input the scores in the computer, save it on a floppy to submit to the administration, and then he would be done and have nothing else to do but to enjoy the summer in the city of romance with his loving girlfriend. He knew that it would take less than thirty minutes to input and he couldn't wait to get out of there and finish up packing.

He picks up his coffee mug and notices that he's out. Thinking that he had enough coffee for the day, he stands up and heads to his mini refrigerator for a bottle of water. He grabs a bottle and his cell phone on his desk starts to ring. Noticing the special ring tone he recently assigned, he knew who it was and was happy to hear it.

"Hey babe, I can't wait to see you." Ross answered as he sat back on his chair, reclining back with his feet on the table.

"Me too, sweetie." Rachel said. "Where are you? I called your apartment, but I got the answer machine."

"At my office, grading the papers. I'm almost done and can't wait to be with you tomorrow."

"I know, which brings me for the purpose of this call. I somehow misplaced the paper with your flight information and I don't think that it'll turn up soon."

Ross chuckled as he knew that it was bound to happen. For some reason, Rachel doesn't write down messages and Monica would get mad at her for not using the pad and pen near the phone when they were roommates years ago.

"Got pen and paper ready?" Ross asked as he took out the information from his briefcase.

"Yeah."

"Flight 657, arriving at 8:30 a.m."

"Got it." She pauses as she hears a knock on the door. "Can you hold on for a second Ross, someone's at the door."

"Sure thing." Ross sat straight up and took a sip of his water. He didn't have to wait long as he heard her thank the person and the door being closed.

"Hey, I'm back." Rachel announced as she returned to the phone.

"So what arrived?"

"I don't know, but I'm about to find out."

Ross can hear her opening it and a smile slowly curve up as it sounds like she's getting there. She shrieks and Ross knows that she finally got the laptop he sent a week ago.

"Oh my gosh, Ross. You shouldn't have."

"I know but it's from all of us...Monica, Chandler, Joey, Phoebe, and Mike. Just think of it as a late going away gift."

"Yeah, but still." She was just grateful for the gift and Ross knew that she wouldn't return it for store credit.

"Did you read the card?"

"Yes and thanks Ross. Now I can't wait for you to get here so I can thank you properly." She said seductively.

Ross chucked. "I'm looking forward to that, but in order for me to get there quicker, I would need to put these scores in the computer and I promise you can have all the fun with me when I get there."

"It's a deal, but someone else would like to say something."

Ross smiled and couldn't wait to hear from his little girl. He can still remember her first words and he knew that she is going to be a bright kid. After all, she's a Geller! For a kid who is almost two years old, she became a talker lately and he would always hear from her until Rachel has to yank the phone away from her because it was her bedtime. Although it isn't totally proper English, she can easily put two words together to make a simple phrase and it was enough for Ross to understand what she's trying to say.

"Hi Daddy!" Emma enthusiastically shrieked on the phone.

"Hi Emma. Are you being a good girl for mommy?"

"Uh-huh. When see me?" She questioned. Lately, she's been attached to her father recently and always questioned when he was coming.

"Tomorrow sweetie. I can't wait to see how big my little girl has gotten."

"I'm a big girl now." Emma exclaimed proudly.

Ross smiled. "You're getting there."

"Love you daddy."

"Love you too, now put mommy back on the phone."

"Okay. Remember, a gift for me."

Ross smiled at his daughters wishes as he knew she would ask that and planned to go to the toy store before heading home. "Of course."

"I'm telling you Ross, we spoil her too much sometimes." Rachel said as she got the phone back.

"I know, she must take it from her mother." Ross joked.

"Ha, ha, ha, Geller. So, what are you getting me?"

"A card with unlimited credits for some Ross loving."

She chuckled. "Seriously Ross, with Chandler no longer five minutes away, you've been hanging with Joey too much."

It was Ross' turn to laugh and he noticed that he's been talking to Rachel a little longer than he was supposed to.

"Sweetie, I hate to stop from hearing your heavenly voice, but I want to get this done so I could get out of here."

She sighed. "All right, all right, and kudos for your compliment."

Ross grinned. "I know, I'm sly."

Rachel chuckled. "Love you."

"Love you too. Bye."

Ross finally hung up his cell phone and had a huge smile on his face. He couldn't wait to see her and he started to get cracking at inputting the grades in the computer.

* * *

Working in fashion certainly have their perks and having the opportunity to work away from home with a completely furnished, two bed and two bath apartment and a leased car just makes her decision to take the job even better. The interior was already beautiful to her eyes and she decided to leave it as it is. The color of the drapes and the design of the wallpaper in the bedrooms weren't disasters and it didn't need to have any work at all. 

Rachel sat down on a maroon, comfy couch in the living room with a smile on her face as she can't wait until Ross comes. She missed him terribly and the phone calls wasn't enough. She looks at her daughter who has the same happy expression on her face as her mother and Emma holds up a book. Rachel picks up Emma and sits her on her lap as she begins to read one of Emma's favorite book, _Love You Forever_.

* * *

Ding, dong. Ross stood out of a burgundy colored door of a house in the suburbs and shoves his hands in his pockets. Whenever he would go to his sister and best-friend apartment, he would just enter like the rest of his friends, but now he felt weird to just open the door to their new residence. The door opens and he is greeted by his sister. 

"Hey Ross." She greeted as she gave him a hug.

"Hey Mon. Did you wrap Emma's gift yet?"

With Emma's second birthday coming up next week, Ross been going around and collecting gifts to bring with him to Paris since everyone won't be able to get together for different reasons. The original idea was for Rachel and Ross to return to the States, but Rachel wasn't able to get the desirable days off and the people in the States wouldn't be able to go to Paris because of different reasons and prior commitments. He already collected from Joey, Phoebe & Mike, Grandpa & Grandma Geller, and Grandma & Grandpa Green, and Monica & Chandler was last on the list.

"I'm about to do it after I give the twins a bath." Monica replied.

"Okay, I have to leave for the airport in thirty minutes and I wouldn't mind hanging out here until then."

"It's settled. Get your things out of the cab and pay the driver, Chandler will take you to the airport."

Ross agreed and did the things that Monica suggested. Ross took his only rolling suitcase while Chandler carried the box with Emma's gifts inside. Ross puts his things in a corner and sits on the couch while Chandler goes to the kitchen.

"Hey man, want a beer?" Chandler called out in the kitchen.

"No thanks. I'll go see if Mon needs any help."

Chandler came back with a beer in hand as Ross stood up. "She's in the bathroom upstairs."

Ross thanked Chandler and headed up to the stairs while Chandler sat on the couch and turned on the t.v.

* * *

"I swear, in two weeks, these kids have grown." Ross was in Monica and Chandler's room, carrying Jack while Monica sat on her bed, finishing up to wrap Emma's gift. Erica fell asleep quickly after her bath and is sleeping peacefully in her crib, in the room across the hall. Erica is easy to put to sleep, but Jack takes a little bit longer. 

"I know." Monica replied. "Since we moved, it seemed like we haven't talked in a while."

"I know what you mean." Ross looks back at Jack and he still wasn't sleeping. Ross continues to rock side to side, back and forth in hopes that Jack will start to close his eyes.

"So what's new with you?" Monica asked.

Ross shrugged. "Nothing much. Ben's meeting me at the airport with Carol and he would spend ten days with me in Paris."

Monica looked quizzically at him. "Just ten days?"

"Yeah. He signed up for soccer this summer and the season starts in the end of the month."

"That's cool." She smiled. "So, do you know who's the new tenants at the old apartment?" She questioned as she was curious to know who the new residents of the apartment she called home for more than ten years.

Ross nodded and smiled at her. "I've seen them a lot of times in Central Perk. Get this, they're two females, best of friends since childhood, in their mid twenties, and both just got out of college. Three guys and three girls always meet at Central Perk and Gunther tells me that it's a new generation of us."

Monica chuckled. "I guess he's right."

Ross smiled. "Yeah."

"Well, here you go." Monica stood up and picked up the finish-wrapped gift.

Ross looks down and sees that Jack has finally fallen asleep.

"I'll put him down." Monica offered as she put the gift back on the bed.

Ross kissed his forehead and passed him to Mon. "Goodnight Jack." Ross cooed and Monica head toward the twins room with Ross following from behind with the final gift in hand.

* * *

"Mommy, wake up!" Emma yelled as she stood on the side of the bed. "Daddy coming today." She happily announced. 

Rachel's eyes open suddenly as she looks at the clock. 8:15. She cursed under her breath because she was sure she set the alarm up at 7:30. She wanted to wait for him at the baggage claim at 8:30 on the dot, but now it seems like that's not going to happen. She picks up Emma and puts her on the bed.

"Sweetie, when did you wake up and why didn't you wake me up sooner?"

Emma looked at her mom with the puppy eyes she inherited from her father. "I sorry."

Rachel couldn't help but smile. "It's okay sweetie, it's my fault for not setting the alarm. But when daddy gets here, you actually have to sleep in your room. It's been two weeks and you need to sleep in your room."

"But, I like sleeping with you." Emma said as she innocently looked at Rachel.

Rachel smile grew wide with the innocent and cuteness that her daughter is displaying at that moment. She had to admit that Emma's technique to try to sway things her way reminded her of herself when she was a kid and would use that card especially on her father to get toys. "I know you do, but there's a bed waiting for you in your room, wanting to get sleep in. You don't want that to go to waste, do you?"

Emma looked down. "No mommy."

Rachel lifted her chin and starts to rub her cheek with her thumb. "Now, let's get ready and pick up daddy and Ben."

Emma smiled. "Okay."

Rachel gets up and picks up Emma, heading to the bathroom to get ready.

* * *

It was bad enough that she overslept, but the traffic was the icing on the cake. Worse yet, Rachel forgot her cell phone on her dresser and she knew that Ross was probably calling her, wondering why she wasn't there yet. 

By the time she finally got to the airport, it was 9:15 and she ran towards baggage claim to see if he was there. She circled the airport twice, but had no sign of Ross around. She parks the car to look over the arrivals and she doesn't see his plane on the screen. She goes to the information desk to ask the lady worker if she knew the reason why.

"Bonjour!" Emma happily said as they reached the counter.

The worker smiled. "Bonjour."

"Excuse me, did flight 657 from JFK, New York arrive?" Rachel asked.

"Oui, madam. They just arrive and should be down here shortly." The worker said in a distinct French accent.

Rachel smiled and was happy that she wasn't late after all.

Rachel thanked and headed towards a bench where she can sit and see the flow of people entering the baggage claim. Emma was getting bigger by the day and Rachel felt like she can no longer stand and carry Emma for too long anymore.

"Let mommy take a rest okay big girl. They should be here shortly." Rachel sits down on a bench and Emma squirms on her lap.

"Down please." Emma asked as she still tried to maneuver down.

"Sorry sweetie, but we're in a busy airport and I don't want to risk you getting lost."

"Please mommy." Emma tried to pull the puppy-eye look again but Rachel wasn't going for it. She usually would melt and give in, but she knew she can't this time because Emma could really get lost.

"Sorry sweetie, but I can't." Rachel tried to reason with her daughter, but for some reason, Emma didn't want to take "no" for an answer this time and started to get a bit fussy.

"Mommy, down please." Emma begged again as tears threatened to fall.

'Oh my god, not know.' Rachel begged in her thoughts. 'Ross, where are you?'

"Please Mommy." Emma continued to beg as little tears started to flow down her baby cheeks.

Rachel hated to see her daughter cry, but she knew that she had to put her foot down on this one.

"Aw, Emma-Wemma. You don't need to cry, Daddy's here." Ross spotted them as he entered baggage claim, but Rachel was busy trying to coax Emma that she didn't see Ross and Ben eight feet away from her.

All the tears disappeared and she excitedly ran toward Ross after Rachel put her down.

"Daddy, I miss you."

Ross bent down and picked up Emma, kissing her on her cheeks. "Me too and it's missed, sweetie, not miss. Past tense." Emma looked at Ross confused and he chuckled. "It's okay sweetie, you'll learn."

"Hi Ben." Rachel greeted the boy she knew since he was in diapers, the boy who Ross would always talk about when he did his "firsts", the boy she would try to assist Ross with whenever Ben was over at his place.

Ben returned the greeting to his "Fun Aunt" Rachel. He always liked Rachel and was thrilled to know that she and his father got back together because from what he has heard from his aunt Monica, she really made him happy and if Ross was happy, then he was too. He started to wonder if she knew any more practical jokes because he was running out of material. He tried to ask his Uncle Chandler, but he was always preoccupied with the twins that he didn't have time to answer him.

Ross looks at Rachel and smiles. Two weeks seems like an eternity and Rachel still had the effect to take his breath away, always will. He slowly walks towards her with Emma still in his arms and he sweetly kisses her. The kiss started to become a bit more passionate as he starts to hold her with his free arm. Time stood still for those two and it was Emma that had to bring them back to reality.

"Mommy...Daddy...I'm squished." Emma announced as Ben covered his eyes with the thought that kissing a girl is icky at the age of nine.

Ross and Rachel realized that Emma was in the middle and they pulled away, laughing at the comment Emma made.

"Sorry sweetie." Ross and Rachel said in unison as they continued to laugh.

Ross grabs Rachel's hand as they head toward the carousel to get his luggage.

* * *

Laying down one minute on a fully reclined La Z-Boy and you could find yourself drifting to sleep. As soon as they reached Rachel's apartment, Ross saw the black chair near the main door and realized that it is pretty much the same as Joey's one back in New York. While Rachel was getting him a bottle of water that he requested, Ross sat down and fully reclined the chair back to test the comfy level of that bad boy.

He looks around the living room and nods in approval. The room surely had some nice furniture: a new-looking maroon sofa on his right, a matching comfy chair across from him, a black coffee table in the middle, and an entertainment unit with a decent size television and DVD system, to name a few.

He sees Emma on his left side, with her arms up, wanting to be picked up, so he did and laid her on his chest. Ross held onto her with one arm and his eyes started to become heavy. He would always have difficulty sleeping on airplanes and now it was catching up on him as he felt his eyes slowly closing.

Rachel walks through the swinging door, into the living room from the kitchen and sees Emma lightly smacking Ross's left cheek. She wonders why Emma is doing that and realizes the reason behind it all. Rachel knew that it was a Kodak moment and she took a picture. She smiles and lightly grabs Emma off of Ross, hoping not to disturb him in his deep slumber.

* * *

7:45. Huh? Ross quickly sat back up and discovered that it wasn't wise to do that as he felt a little headache coming on while the blood rushed in his head. He puts his hand on his forehead and remembers that he forgot to set his watch to Paris time. He stands up and walks a few steps, in between the coffee table and couch. He stretches and looks around the room for a clock so he could fix his watch with the proper time. 

"Good afternoon." Rachel greeted as she walked out of her bedroom and towards him in the middle of the living room.

"For me, it's more like good morning."

She smiled. "Hungry?"

"As a matter of face, starving. It's like breakfast."

"Well, let's go make you a sandwich."

"Okay, but where's your bathroom?"

Rachel pointed to a room to the right of him and Ross wondered how he could have missed it. It's right behind the maroon couch and you can easily see it from the living room. He guess he missed it because his eyes went straight to the chair and he practically fell asleep on it seconds later.

He shrugged it off and went to the bathroom as Rachel giggled and went to the kitchen that was right beside the bathroom she pointed out.

She dug in the refrigerator, looking for something to snack on and couldn't decide what she wanted. She starts to remember about the fresh cantaloupe that she just purchased and took the container out with the precut slices. She closes the refrigerator door and pops a slice in her mouth as Ross entered.

"Funny thing, I couldn't find any clock in the living room." Ross said.

"Yeah, I keep on forgetting to get one in there."

"How long have I been sleeping?"

"Well, seeing that you started as soon as you got here, I would say about five hours."

The right of Ross's eye brow arched up quizzically. "Really? What time is it now?" He asked.

"It's 1:45." She cooly answered

"Where's Emma?"

"It's nap time. I just put her down fifteen minutes ago."

"How about Ben?"

"Down and out for the count about the same time as Emma."

Ross grinned as he approached her and wrapper his arms around her waist. "Well, what do you say we take advantage of this situation."

Rachel put her hands on his chest as she arched a brow. "What do you have in mind Dr. Geller?"

Ross shrugged. "Whatever the lady wants, the lady gets."

"Well, don't you want to eat? Aren't you starving?"

"Don't you remember, Rach. If I had to choose between food or sex, what would I choose." Ross grinned mischievously as he remembered the time when the topic was brought up in Central Perk.

Rachel took Ross's hand and walked out of the kitchen. "You know, we can't make this a habit. Might not be too good for our child's psychologic if she walks in on us or even Ben's."

Ross chuckled. "I'll take the chance this time."

* * *

The cool wind sweeps through the room and the only sounds that can be heard is the sound of the city. Ross opened his eyes and he sees that he's still laying on the couch, in the exact position that he was the previous night. The time difference definitely screwed up his schedule and he practically stayed up the whole night. He thought taking a bath would make him refresh and comfortable enough to make himself tired, but that proved to have no effect. He also tried reading a book, thinking it would help him, but that proved to be a big mistake as he got into it and didn't want to stop reading. Ben on the other hand, had no problem sleeping despite the nap he had earlier and slept as if he's been there for weeks. He recall that he slept at four and now it was 11:30. 

He stands up and went towards the kids room to see what they were up to. He peeked through the door and notice that both of their beds are nicely made and they were no where in sight. He called out their names but got no response.

Ross heads back to the living room and he only now notices a note that he presumed was from Rachel.

_Ross,_

_Hey Hun. I figured that you needed your sleep and don't worry about the kids. They're at the company's daycare at the building and out of your hair for now. For now, enjoy your time by yourself and the kids and I will be home by five. The refrigerator is fully stocked and eat whatever you want, the choice is up to you. I gotta go before I'm late and I'll see you later._

_Love you always,_

_Rachel_

_P.S. Can you please manage to sleep in bed tonight? I miss waking up next to you. _

Ross smiled and headed towards his and Rachel's bedroom for his clothes so he could take a bath.

* * *

Smiles was all over Rachel's face and a fellow co-worker noticed it since she arrived at work. Rachel was in her office, doing some paperwork when Claudia entered to give her more papers. Claudia is a 23 year old from New Jersey and moved to Paris after graduating from college months ago. Despite the noticeable age difference, she immediately clicked with Rachel and they would always talk about different types of topics. 

"I take it that someone got some last night." Claudia smirked as she hand the folder over to Rachel. "Ever since you got here, I felt like you were all depressed and hated it here and now, all of a sudden, you smile as if you got a hanger in your mouth. So spill, what happened?" She smiled and sat down in a chair in front of Rachel.

Rachel stopped from what she was doing and smiled. "My boyfriend, Ross, who I told you all about, got in yesterday."

Claudia grinned and nodded. "So, I was right, you did get some?"

Rachel shook her head. "Not exactly. We were making out on the bed and was about to go there, but Emma started crying because of a dream and our fun was over."

Claudia was shaking her head. "Goes to show you that time is limited, especially if you have kids. I guess what I hear is true...once you have kids, your sex life becomes less because you always get interrupted when you're almost getting to the good stuff."

"Hey, our sex life is...You know what, I'm not having this conversation with you." Rachel retorted back. "Besides, when are you going to get a boyfriend that you're serious about?"

Claudia giggled. "At this point, not now. It'll be years before that happens. I'm just twenty-three and there's more to see out there, if you know what I mean." Claudia winked and Rachel shook her head.

"Well don't wait too long to find Mister Right. Look at me, I'm thirty-four and I'm still not married." Rachel said in a somewhat of a depressing tone.

Claudia rolled her eyes. "Oh please, at least you found someone who you know you'll want to spend the rest of your life with. It's not like you still have to go out to look for him. And besides, you already have a beautiful daughter and I think that marriage will come quicker than you think."

Rachel shrugged as she wondered if what Claudia said is true. "We'll see."

"So when will I meet this Ross guy?"

Rachel raised an eyebrow and looked at her suspiciously. "Don't you have to go back to work or something?" She questioned.

Claudia took a quick glance at her watch. "Nah, I'm just going to take my lunch break now. Wanna come?"

Rachel glance around her desk with mountains of files and shook her head. "I don't think I have time for a quick bite to eat outside."

Claudia stood up. "Come on you workaholic. Join me for lunch, it'll still be there when you get back."

Rachel shook her head. "That's okay. If I go, the pile would probably grow and besides, I have an apple."

Claudia finally decided to give up and headed towards the door. "Fine, suit yourself."

Claudia just stepped out of the room, just as a man with dark hair and brown eyes entered. She's intrigued with this unknown man and stands in the doorway with the speculation that this may be that "Ross" guy Rachel been talking about non-stop.

"Hey Rach." Ross greeted. "I was wondering if you would join me for lunch."

Rachel looked around her desk and knew that she really shouldn't, but it was with Ross, so she couldn't turn him down. She smiled and nodded her head. "Sounds good."

"Ah ha, so you must be Ross." Claudia stated as she walked towards him. "Only you would be able to pry her away from work when she's worried about the load to be done."

Ross smiled as he shook her hand. "I guess I'm a popular topic around the office."

Claudia smiled. "Yes, you are. Nice to meet you Ross and I'm sure I'll see you at the office often." Claudia winked at him before finally exiting and had Rachel shaking her head at that girl.

"She seems nice." Ross said as Rachel walks around the desk to meet him, smiling and giving him a quick peck on the lips.

"She is, but sometimes, too much of a slacker."

Ross entwined his hand with hers and sweetly smiled. "I liked the note."

Rachel grinned. "Really?"

"Yeah and I promise to sleep in bed this time."

Rachel giggled at the tone of his voice as it seemed to be a bit boyish in her mind. She smiles as she looks at him in his deep brown eyes that she would always get easily lost in years ago and still would until this day forward. "So where to you want to go for lunch?" She sweetly asked.

Ross smiled. "I've got an idea."

* * *

It was a beautiful, cool day in the park as Ross and Rachel enjoyed their sandwiches on a bench in a nearby park. Ross just took his last bite and continues to drink his soda. He looks ahead and sees his two children on the playground. Emma is on the swing for toddlers and Ben is pushing her, having fun with his little sis. Ross smiles widely at the sight and Rachel is still a little bit unease about the whole thing. 

"Ross, can you please get Emma away from swings? Her hair is getting too long for her to ride it." Rachel asked, worried.

Ross looked at her, trying to see if she's really serious. "Are you still not over being scared of the swings?"

"Well, are you still scared of spiders?" She retorted back.

Ross pondered that question for a while, then stood up, defeated. "Fair enough."

Ross picks up Emma from the swings as Ben heads towards the jungle gym after getting approval from his father. Ross sits next to Rachel on the bench and sits Emma in her stroller as Rachel throws her rubbish in a paper bag.

"So, what are we doing for Emma's birthday this year?" Ross asked.

Rachel shrugged. "Just have something simple at the apartment. Too bad things didn't work out that we all could be together."

"I know, but this year feels so..." Ross paused as he tried to find the right words to describe what he's feeling.

Rachel smiled sweetly as she knows what he's talking about. "Special." She finished. "I'm bummed that the gang couldn't come or vice-versa, but I kind of like that it's just the parents and her brother celebrating her birthday with her. "

Ross smiled as he held her hand, staring straight in her eyes. "Me too."

* * *

In, out. In, out. 

Ross could always sit on a chair nearby and watch his daughter peacefully sleep for hours. He would still be in awe that that's really his daughter that he created with his dream girl and always considered himself bless with what he has now. She just turned two today and Ross can't believe how fast she's growing up. He doesn't know what it is, but he would always find watching babies sleep soothing as he always would do whenever he had Ben for a day.

He turns his attention to the object that had Emma holding on tightly as if someone could take it away from her and smiled as he thought about the person who gave her the gift. Emma held on tightly to the original Hugsy that her Uncle Joey was finally willing to give that Rachel could've swore that she did pack that in one of the boxes when she was preparing to move the first time. That gift seemed to be all that mattered and Emma was ecstatic to receive it as she didn't show that much enthusiasm compared to the other gifts. Even with the stuffed animals, the money, or the toys, it was all about the Hugsy.

Ross takes one last moment with Emma and decides to head back to bed. He stands up and gives a kiss to her forehead.

Before heading out of the room completely, he checks up on Ben and also see that he's out like a light bulb. Seeing that his blanket is almost completely off his body, he re-tucks him like he did earlier and gave him a kiss on the forehead as well before leaving.

Walking to the room right next door, he yawns and he knew that he was ready for bed. He enters and he finds Rachel sleeping, sitting up with her back against the headboard. The lamp near her was still on and she had a open file on her lap with the point of the pen still on the legal pad. Ross chuckled. He would usually find her in the same scenario whenever he had his insomnia nights for the past week and would always put her things away to tuck her in bed, not like he mind anyway.

Once he put her work stuff in her briefcase and turned off the lamp, he would put her in a comfortable position and join her on the right side of the bed. Once he slid underneath the covers, it was like she knew he was there and would automatically cuddle. Ross still preferred to have his space when they slept, but he would take the cuddling any day rather than not have her in his arms at all.

After all of the things that happened with Rachel, Ross is happy to be where he's currently at. He knows that this time around, they are going to have to work a bit harder at their relationship because of the distance being a factor, but he have confidence that they have the maturity to handle it. He has to admit that a little bit of fear and doubts still creep in the back of his mind, but he usually shakes it off and use the picture that he painted in his mind years ago as a motivator to help him drive towards the future that he has always envisioned. It took years, a kid, and last minute declarations to have the two love-birds to finally admit that their love never died and he would fight to keep the best thing that happened in his life.

Although they haven't been together for a month yet, he has to admit that he started to think about the future again, especially on the plane over. A boy, a girl, and possibly a dog in front of a house in the suburbs are still in the picture. As well as the kids fighting over the science section in the newspaper and his wife smiling proudly at the life they have. Ross could see it now and he knew that in his picture, his wife was Rachel.

Ross shakes himself out of daydream land and he mentally scolds himself. 'It's too sudden. Not even a month yet,' he always reminded himself before he lets his imagination get the best of him.

Hmm...maybe this time, the picture is closer than he thinks.

* * *

So...What you think? I know Emma rarely talks on the show, but I tried to have her speak some dialogue that I hope is believable for a child who is almost two. 

I'll check to see how much people are reading and leaving a review, but just to let you know that if I feel that not enough people are reading it, I would probably pull the plug after posting approximately three chapters and not too much time and work would be wasted. Good or bad...review because that's the only way I'll learn. Thanks and I can't stress it enough...Leave a review please (seriously on my knees and begging).


	3. CBMA Chapter 3

You've waited long enough for this, I'll let you to it and please leave a review. _Note to readers: special author's note at the end._ Thanks and enjoy :)

* * *

The Challenge with Being Miles Away: Chapter 3

Ross was pretty tired, but for some reason, his daughter wasn't. After reading several books, Emma was still up and showed no signs of sleepiness. Rachel offered her assistance earlier but Emma insisted that Ross do it. Rachel smiled and respected her wishes because she knew that Emma just wanted some alone time with her daddy. She still smiles at the thought that Ross' the father of her child and she can't picture anyone else, but Ross.

Ross yawned and looked at his daughter with a plea to sleep. Emma was laying down, tucked into bed with her beautiful eyes fixated on her father. She smiled and had a look of sweetness and innocence in her face.

"Alright, Baby Girl," Ross softly spoke, "I've read about five books already and you're still not sleepy. Why won't you go to sleep?"

Emma innocently shrugged and Ross wasn't buying it.

"Emma Geller Green, tell me the truth." Ross warned.

Emma was non responsive for a while before getting down from the bed and grabbing Ross' hand. She tried to pull him off his chair, but being as small as she is, she didn't have the strength to pull off the task that she wanted. Ross giggled as he continued to watch his daughter valiant effort to get him up. He scooped her in his arms and she shrieked.

"Shh sweetie. Ben's sleeping." Ross reminded as he gazed at his heavily sleeping son.

Emma sheepishly smiled. "Down daddy, please."

Ross obeyed her wishes and Emma grabbed his hand again. She started to walk and lead them out of her bedroom and into the living room. Ross turned on the light and Emma continued to lead them. She stopped in front of the entertainment unit and Ross still has no clue why Emma brought him there.

"Sweetie, why are we here?" Ross asked.

Ross looked at Emma, waiting for an answer. She started to open the double doors of the cupboard below the tv and tried to pull out something that was black. Ross squatted down, trying to look at the object and saw that it's a picture album. Seeing that Emma was still struggling to get the thing out, Ross just picked it up and stared at it.

Ross picked up Emma and they sat on the couch, putting Emma on his lap. Ross couldn't believe that Rachel had this particular album and he surely thought that Monica had it. Ross flipped the cover open after seeing his daughter trying to do so earlier.

The front page was no surprise to him that a picture of the gang at the coffee house with the word "Central Perk" proudly labeled in big, colorful letters. The picture had Ross, Monica, and Chandler sitting on the orange couch, Phoebe and Joey sitting at the small table right next to the group, and Rachel sitting on the brown comfy chair across from the small table. It looked like they were just hanging out and smiling and Ross tried to recall how they got that picture.

Thinking for a little while, it dawned on him that Monica got it from Gunther after a photographer took a snap shot of them because he had one exposure left. Since the photograph turned out beautifully, the photographer thought the people in the picture would want it, so he gave it to the coffee shop worker who knew that they would come in every time.

Ross chuckled, seeing how young they all look and how much things has changed in the last ten years. They were a bunch of twenty-something's with uncertainty on how their lives was going to be. Now, they were more laid back, ready to handle whatever got thrown their way, and each person were content with how their lives turned out so far.

Looking down at his daughter, he saw that she was staring intently at the photo. He yawned and looked down at his watching, seeing that it's past midnight and way past Emma's bedtime. He knew he had to somehow get her to sleep and he didn't know what to do next. Staring at the photo album, a thought crossed his mind. Even though she might be too young, he figure to just go with it, with the possibility of working.

He turned his body 90 degrees to the left, putting his legs on the couch and sat Emma in between his legs. He rested the album on his knees and pointed to the picture, gearing up to tell his daughter the fascinating tales of the good times in NYC.

* * *

It's seven o'clock on a Thursday morning and instead of hearing the non-stop shrill beeping from the alarm clock, Rachel wakes up after hearing giggles coming from the living room. The door is closed but it was still loud enough for Rachel to be wide awake. She looked to her right side and seen what she was expecting, Ross still sleeping. She kissed his cheek and rolled out of bed to see what had Emma giggling about.

She stepped out of the room, closing the door on the way out, and saw Emma and Ben on the couch. Emma's watching TV while Ben's playing on his Nintendo Gameboy Advance SP. She wondered why Ben is not paying attention at all at the television because she knew that he can watch TV for hours with all the right shows on. She looked at the television screen and now knew the reason why Ben's playing on his Game Boy.

Emma was watching her _Wiggles _video tapes and singing and dancing to the songs, which explained the noise.

"Sweetie, you need to be quiet because Daddy's still sleeping." Rachel informed.

Emma noticed Rachel behind the comfy chair and sheepishly smiled. "Sorry Mommy."

"That's okay, just keep it down."

Emma nodded and continued to watch her show while Rachel headed toward the kitchen.

Rachel entered the kitchen and opened the bottom-right cabinet from the stove to grab the coffee can and filters to make a routine pot of coffee before heading to work at 8:30. After putting the coffee grindings in the filter, inserting water in the machine, and turning it on, Rachel looked into the refrigerator. While searching through the refrigerator, around her body she felt the warm pair of arms that has given her comfort in so many ways.

"Hey, you know what I just realized today?" Ross sweetly asked.

"Hmm," Rachel trailed, "what's that?"

Rachel turned her body around so she could face Ross. Ross' arms was around Rachel's waist while her arms wrapped around his neck.

"We technically didn't have our official first date since getting back together."

"Really?" Rachel incredulously asked.

Ross nodded. "Which brings me to this point. How about just you and I go out tonight for dinner and do whatever we want after that."

Rachel smiled and gave him a long kiss. "Sounds great."

* * *

Looking down at the list of restaurants to go that night, Ross couldn't decide where to go. He sat on the comfy chair while Emma slept on the couch and Ben was reading a comic book and listening to his Cd player on the La-Z Boy. Ross felt like he needed another person's opinion and knew that it was a good time to call back home. A week flung by so fast that Ross forgot to call back his sister after she insisted on him doing.

Ross pulled out his cell phone, knowing that he's been racking up more minutes than usual that month. He called Rachel countless times and now he was calling his sister, surely expecting to stay on for quite a while. He didn't care though since he had free international calls and no roaming charges with his plan. He didn't think that he needed it, but he got it anyway just in case something called him to be out of the country.

Ross found his sister's number in his phone book and dialed the number. He doesn't wait too long as Monica answered the phone on the second ring.

"Hey Mon, I need your help with something." Ross politely asked.

"You haven't called me like I asked you and you want my help?" Monica said rather sarcastically.

"Yes." Ross said unsurely.

Monica chuckled and Ross sighed a breath of relief.

"What's up Ross?" Monica asked.

"I don't know where to take Rachel out to dinner."

"Hmm, what are the options?"

"Well, of course it has to be romantic but I don't know if I want to take her to a restaurant with a particular theme or maybe a charming bistro."

"What are you leaning towards?"

Ross looked down on his list and noticed that he circled a restaurant that he wasn't aware of.

"Looking at my list, it appears that I circled a bistro."

"Well, problem solve then. What's the bistro's name?"

"Uh...Plateau le beau."

"Aw man, I'm so jealous." Monica whined a bit. "I seen that restaurant on the internet and that's really a beautiful restaurant."

Monica felt a bit of jealously that Ross was going to Paris before she did and now he was going to the restaurant that she picked out over a thousand other possibilities. Monica always wanted to visit the city known for romance, but never had the chance to go.

"So how's the trip so far?" Monica curiously asked.

"Good so far. Rachel mostly had to work but I took the kids to museums, the zoo, the park, and a little bit of sightseeing that I read about. Since Rachel have the day off tomorrow, the deal was to do whatever the kids wants to do, but for today, it's just the two of us."

"Well, good for you two."

Ross heard a cry in the background and knew that duty called for Monica.

"Look Ross, I have to go because one of the twins woke up, but don't forget to send over some pictures and call me, okay." Monica demanded.

Ross smiled as he thought that it was typical of her. "Will do Mon, tell Chandler that I said hi."

"Bye Ross."

Ross hung up with the smile still on his face and leaned back on the comfy chair. He misses the gang back home, but certainly not as much as Rachel. Ross hands moved behind his head and his legs are on the coffee table, eagerly looking forward to tonight's plans.

* * *

Rachel looked at her watch and smiled widely as she saw that it's five minutes before she's officially done working. She decided to finish up what she was doing on Monday since she had tomorrow off and begun to gather up her things.

Once she gathered all of her things out, she turned off her computer and grabbed a folder that she had to drop off her secretaries desk to send out. She stepped out of her office, locking the door as she exited and noticed Claudia approaching her.

"Leaving already?" Claudia asked.

"Yeah, I have a date with Ross tonight." Rachel proudly remarked.

"How romantic," Claudia gushed, "where are you going?"

Rachel shrugged. "Don't know, Ross set it up."

"Well have fun. Who knows I might see you at the same place."

"Who is the poor guy now?" Rachel joked.

"I like to classify him as prospect number 35." Claudia joked right back.

"Well you and Prospect 35 have fun. I need to go to get ready for my overdue date with my beau." Rachel announced proudly.

"Go ahead and who knows, maybe this time your daughter won't spoil it for you." Claudia winked.

Rachel just shrugged, smirking on her way out. Claudia's last statement was a definite possibility and Rachel hoped that it was going to happen. They just had to. Damn, it felt like it's been too long!

* * *

Ross scratched his head as he looked down at his watch. He sat on the couch in the living room while Rachel was showering in the master bathroom. Ross dropped the kids off to the neighbors just across the hall because the fourteen year old daughter of the tenant agreed to watch the two since she had to babysit her little sister anyway. Ben could easily entertain himself and Emma had no problem playing with the little girl who's only a year older than her, so it was a perfect setup.

He's been out with her many times that he doesn't know why he's feeling the butterflies just about now. He wants everything to be perfect and special since he pointed out the fact that this would be their first night on a date since they got back together not too long ago. Ross figured that he has about five minutes before leaving that he stood up and headed towards the other bathroom for final inspections.

Ross was casually dressed, using a long-sleeve, light-blue collared shirt and black Dockers pants. He looked around his body, doing last minute clothes inspection and saw that everything looked good. He checked his hair in the mirror, seeing that it's spiked just the way he liked it.

After nodding in approval, he stepped back into the living room the same time as Rachel walked out of her room. She was wearing a simple, but elegant navy blue dress that definitely got Ross' mouth agape for a while before coming back to his sense.

"You look stunning." Ross said amazed.

Rachel blushed. "Thanks, so do you."

Ross held out his hand and kissed her cheek.

"Ready to go?" Ross sweetly asked.

Rachel smiled. "With you, always."

Ross all of a sudden felt like he's forgetting something and he checked his pockets. It dawned on him that he forgot his wallet on the dresser and he quickly entered the master bedroom to get it. While Ross was getting his wallet, the telephone ringed and Rachel got it.

Ross returned in the living room and he saw Rachel putting the telephone back on the receiver. He noticed that she had a look of extreme displeasure on her face and didn't need to ask the obvious, her face said it all.

* * *

This was a setback to the plans for that evening and Ross didn't expect it to take way more than two hours. He sat on a couch in a little lounging area near the elevator to the floor where Rachel worked. When Rachel told him that this minor emergency at work would take a half an hour tops, Ross decided to go with her since it wouldn't take too long. What was thirty minutes, turned into four hours later and Ross stuck by anyway.

Ross started to giggle in revelation of how their first date eight years ago was similar. Only difference that time was that the roles were reversed, but Ross has to admit that it was the best official first date ever.

Ross sat patiently on the couch with his first two buttons on his shirt unbuttoned and his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He took out his cell phone from his pocket and noticed that he had a text message. Looking at the text message, he seen that somebody left a voice mail and he wondered when this person called because he sure don't remember the phone going off in the first place.

He dialed the number to his voicemail and heard that it's from his sister, wondering if he had gotten the DVD because Chandler been asking about it. Ross shook his head and chuckled as he dialed the number to call his sister back.

"Hello" A familiar male voice answered and Ross smiled.

"Hey man, so you've been bothering you're wife about this particular DVD for a while now?" Ross speculated.

"Yeah, so did you get it?" Chandler eagerly asked.

"Yes, I did. I thought that the movie was worth the $18.99 price tag."

"Can I borrow it?"

"Go ahead, you know where it is."

"So, how was the date?" Chandler inquisitively asked.

"Didn't happen, my man." Ross said in a rather bummed tone.

"What happened? You didn't bring up the whole 'we were on a break' again, did you?" Chandler semi-joked, not knowing the whole story.

Ross sighed. "Nope, Rachel got called into work."

"Wow, talk about a deja vu."

"I know." Ross said, sounding exactly how his sister would say that particular phrase. "Anyway, I'm at the office lobby as we speak."

"Wow, so how are you feeling." Chandler asked, feeling a bit sympathetic and curious on how he's feeling.

"Actually, I'm okay." Ross said truthfully, surprising himself. He thought that he would feel anything else but okay, but that wasn't the case at all.

"That's good."

"So what's up with you lately?" Ross asked.

"Oh you know, the same old things; drool, snot, and butt wiping. I swear, these kids crap out more than they eat." Chandler joke in his way and Ross found himself laughing.

"I don't know how long I can take this." Chandler continued. "Sure they're nice and cute and all, but they poop at what seems like every hour."

"Enjoy those stages, my man. They'll grow up so fast in front of your eyes." He seen it happen with Ben and now he's starting to see it with Emma.

Ross heard Monica in the background, calling out Chandler's name and Ross knew that he had to go.

"Listen, one of the twins needs my attention. I'll talk to you later and I'll get the movie at your place tomorrow."

"Okay, and if Monica goes with you, be sure that she doesn't take my pocket change on my coffee table in the living room. I believe I left a couple bucks there and I would like to see it there when I get back." Ross ordered.

Chandler chuckled. "Bye Ross."

Ross smiled as he shut his cell phone closed, glad that he had a conversation with one of his best bud. Since Chandler became a new daddy and himself getting in Paris, Ross felt like they never really had the time to talk because of other things but Ross was glad that he had the opportunity to do it not so long ago. Ross inserted his phone in his back in his pocket while Rachel was walking towards him.

Judging from her face, she looked a bit stressed and definitely tired. Ross stood up and walked up to her.

"I'm so sorry about tonight." Rachel said apologetic. "Tonight was suppose to be just you and me out together and it quickly turned into a disaster."

Ross smiles on his face and shook his head, telling her that she shouldn't be. "Hey, it's okay." Ross pulled her into a hug and rubbed her back as an act of assurance. "This was totally unexpected and we'll get another chance for us to have a night together."

Ross pulled out of the hug to look at her and noticed that she was feeling a bit better.

"Besides, I should've known that something like this would've happened. It did eight years ago." Ross pointed out.

Rachel knew off that bat what Ross was referring too and grinned at the recollection. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he rested his hands on her waist.

"So what should we do now?" Rachel asked.

Ross looked at Rachel, wearing a contemplating look on his face. It didn't take Ross too long to come up with something since he had sufficient amount of time to think about it, so he was prepared with a backup. Without saying much of a word, Ross kissed her and lead her into the elevator.

* * *

Scented candles, check; music in the background, check; jacuzzi tub filled with water, check; rose petals scattered around the tub, check.

Ross looked around the master bathroom for final inspections and gave the green-light of the way it turned out. On his way out, he closed the door to the bathroom and sat on the bed, waiting for Rachel.

They got back to the apartment not too long ago after picking up the kids from across the hall. Ben was barely staying awake and Emma was zonked out by the time Ross and Rachel got there. Rachel settled Emma into her bed, while Ben settled himself after brushing his teeth.

Ross stifled a yawn and fell back, laying on the bed with his hands behind his head and staring at nothing in particular.

"What are you thinking about?" Rachel asked as she entered the bedroom, closing the door behind her.

Ross sat back up and stared at her as she walked towards him. "Nothing in particular." Ross plainly answered when in fact he was thinking of something so much more.

Rachel sat on his lap and hugged his shoulders. "I'm so sorry for ruining our plans for tonight."

Ross looked at her and cupped her face. "Who said that it's over? We've got an hour before it's midnight and I got something waiting for us as we speak."

Rachel grinned. "So, what are the plans Mr. Geller?"

"Well, I was thinking of trying out that hot tub that you just had to tell me once you saw it. Even though, may I add, that it was still very early in New York."

Rachel smiled at the idea, giving him a peck on the lips and stood up. "Give me a couple minutes."

"I'll be waiting."

As Rachel searched through her drawers for her swim suit, Ross went into the bathroom. He almost closed the door completely, leaving an inch open and begun to take off his clothes until he's stripped down to his swim trunks that he changed into earlier. He lit up the candles that surrounded the hot tub and started to pour champagne into two glasses, settling them on a table setup nearby.

As Ross turned on the bubbles, Rachel enters wearing a simple blue bikini. Ross stared at her in amazement, amazed that years doesn't seem to have an effect on her and that she still looked the same since he first saw her in a bikini when he was a teenager.

Ross walked toward her and offered the champagne, which she gladly accepted. They clinked their glasses together, taking a sip before putting their glasses down and entering the hot tub.

"So, not bad for an alternative?" Ross asked.

Rachel smiled. "Not bad at all, except my feet are killing me."

Ross chuckled. "I'm sure it is. You were running around the place like a headless chicken and with those heels, I don't know how you lasted that long."

Rachel sighed. "I know, it's been chaos in there."

"Maybe this will help." Ross shifted around the tub and sat across from her. He grabbed one of her foot and started to massage it. They weren't in silence for too long before Rachel spoke.

"Hey Ross."

Ross turned his attention to her while continuing to move his thumb in a circular motion at the arc of her foot. "Yeah."

"Thank you." Rachel said gratefully.

Ross smiled. "No probs, you look like you really needed this foot rub."

Rachel shook her head and chuckled. "Yeah, thanks for that, but that's not what I was referring to earlier."

Ross stared at her intrigued with where she was going and smiled as an encouragement for her to continue.

"Even though we didn't do anything you originally planned for, thanks for making this a wonderful night anyways."

Ross stared straight in her eyes and smiled. "For you, always."

* * *

Hello guys. So sorry about not updating quickly but just letting you know that since school started up again, I no longer have the leisure of time to focus much on this fic :( I may write here and there, but I'm not making any promises on updating. What I can tell you readers though is that I'll get back to this after the semester's over and I'll try to post at least a chapter during that time. Thanks for your patience and hopefully you'll still be interested in this after a long period. Thanks again :) 


	4. Chapter 4

Challenge Being Miles Away: Chapter 4

_**Disclaimer: Never got a dime doing this and the purpose of this story is to do it for the pure fun of killing time.**_

_**

* * *

**_

Ross looked over at his daughter and noticed that she's quieter than usual. He thought that she was just tired from their fun-filled day but she's hardly said a word unless she was spoken too. Both kids begged to go to Disneyland in Paris and in the end result, only one kid is satisfied? That just didn't add up since both kids had about the equal amount of time to go to the things that they wanted to see.

Ben wanted to ride on the Space Mountain with his dad, but Ross quickly shot down that idea. Rachel was laughing hysterically and Ross knew who informed her about his incident. Ross should've known that Rachel would've found out since her and his sister practically tell each other everything. He just had to make a mental note to spill about Monica's secrets as well.

He looked over at Rachel and she knew what he was thinking. Emma wasn't being a talkative little tot and Ross wondered why she had the sudden change in mood. She was her usual-self the day before and when she woke up, she's been acting the same way she's been earlier in the day. Rachel asked what was wrong with her earlier and Emma would put on her best face and kiss her to reassure that nothing was wrong. Rachel bought it at the time and dismissed all of the suspicions, but now, she knew for sure that something is bothering her.

It was almost her time to take a bath and Rachel knew that's when she can have some alone time with her daughter. She'll do what she can to crack her and try to get to the bottom of this.

* * *

Ross tried to continue to read, but he seemed to be too preoccupied with something to concentrate. He looked over at Ben and saw that he's seriously playing his Gameboy. Ross guessed that he was playing Super Mario World or he wouldn't be so focus just to play a game. He thought about not interrupting Ben but he had to ask him one question that's been irking him throughout dinner.

"Ben" Ross called out.

"Yeah Dad?" Ben replied, not taking his eyes of the screen.

"I have to ask you something very important."

"Can it wait?" Ben asked, unaware of the importance.

"No, it can't. Pause that game, it'll be there after I'm done talking to you."

Ben was at the final stage and had to beat Bowser to pass the whole thing. He would've asked him to wait but decided to pause it for his own sake because by the tone of his father's voice, he knew that it was something urgent and serious. After pausing the game, he turned his attention fully on his father and wondered what's up.

"Did I do something bad, Dad?" Ben asked, hoping that he wasn't in trouble for something because he doesn't recall doing anything bad.

"That depends son." Ross plainly responded.

His father had a serious face that had Ben scared out of his mind. His mind began to spin as he tried to figure out what he did and frantically find a way to apologize for whatever trouble he got himself into. He took a gulp and tried to prepare himself for what was about to come his way.

"Do you know why Emma's been acting differently today?" Ross asked, concerned.

Ben shook his head in defense. "I didn't do or say anything to her, I promise." Ben tried to convince his father and he didn't know if Ross bought it.

Ross still has the same look on his face as he tried to figure it out. Ben stared straight in Ross' eyes when he answered and Ross knew that he was telling the truth.

"It's alright Ben. I believe you." Ross said, trying to assure his freaked out son.

Ben didn't know whether to be scared or relieved. He could've just said that as a tactic to get his guard down and attack him when he wasn't prepared.

Noticing his tenseness and apprehensiveness to relax, Ross assured him again and Ben slowly started to believe what his father said was telling the truth.

"Do you know what's been bothering your sister lately?"

Ben shrugged. "Sorry, Dad. I'm clueless like you."

Ross nodded, satisfied with his son's cooperation. "You can go back to playing your game."

Ben started to play again and Ross sighed, laying completely down on the couch, trying to think of the possibilities for Emma's recent behavior.

* * *

The aroma of Loreal Kids shampoo filled the room after a soothing shower. Emma yawned as she's sitting in the middle of her mother's bed, wearing her favorite blue teddy bear pj's. Rachel noticed Emma's yawn as she was sitting behind her and brushing her hair. She figured that she must be tired after that promised day of fun for the kids and knew that it wouldn't be too long before she fell asleep.

Rachel finished brushing her hair and Emma started to crawl towards the end of the bed.

"Emma, hold on. Mommy needs to talk to you." Rachel said.

Emma turned around and crawled back towards her mother. She sat down, facing Rachel, waiting to know what about .

"Yes Mommy?" Emma innocently asked.

"Is something wrong sweetie?" Rachel concernedly asked.

"What do you mean?" Emma replied, keeping up with the act.

"Why were you quiet today?"

Emma shrugged. "Don't know what you talkin' 'bout."

Rachel raised her eye brow, not buying her daughter's answer. "Really." She asked questionably.

Emma definitely kept her front and nodded. "Yes Mommy."

Rachel stared at her straight in her eyes, hardly blinking and trying to read what's really going on. Emma didn't know what her mother was doing but the explanation for her unusual behavior was eating her alive. Emma looked down and a tear dropped down on the bed. Rachel's mothering instincts instantly kicked in. She protectively wrapped her arms around her daughter and rubbed her back, feeling confused and yet sad for the poor girl.

"Aww Sweetie, what's wrong? Did you break something and was too afraid to tell me? I won't get too mad...I'm not your Aunt Monica." Rachel tried to joke, but Emma was still sniffling.

"Please Ems, tell me what's wrong?" Rachel pleaded.

Emma pulled away from the hug and wiped her eyes. "Can I see Daddy please?"

Rachel confusedly nodded. "Sure."

Rachel was somewhat thrown off by her request but of course decided to obey it. She kissed Emma forehead and went to get Ross.

Ross stared blankly at the screen, as Rachel entered the living room. She doesn't know if his mind was preoccupied or if he's just lost at the show he's watching because it's all in French. She noticed that Ben's not on the La-Z Boy and wondered where he could've gone.

"Ross, where's Ben?" Rachel asked.

Snapping out of his daze, he turned his attention to Rachel. "Uh...He's in the shower."

Rachel nodded

"Is Emma in her room?" Ross asked, noticing that she's not with Rachel and automatically presumed that because he's been lost in space for a while.

"Your daughter wants to see you." Rachel flatly pointed out

Ross started to get a bit worried with the tone of Rachel's voice and didn't know what to expect. "What's wrong?" Ross asked concerned.

Rachel shrugged. "I don't know. When I asked her, she was trying to act like she didn't know at first, but after I stared in her eyes, she started to cry. I tried again to ask her what was wrong and she asked me to call you. I'm worried about her, Ross."

Ross stood up and grabbed her hand. "I know you are, so am I, but it's probably nothing. She's just two years old." Ross tried to reason.

"Mommy, Daddy?" Emma called out from her mother's room.

"We're coming." Rachel answered. "What do you think is wrong?" Rachel asked Ross, hoping that he would sort of have a sense because he was pretty good in figuring out that type of stuff.

Ross shrugged. "Don't know, but let's find out."

Ross and Rachel took a deep breath as they started to walk towards the bedroom with Rachel leading and Ross' hand on her shoulder. They entered the room and see that Emma is in the middle, snuggling underneath the bed cover. Ross and Rachel looked at each other before they separated, sitting on different sides of the bed. Rachel started to stroke Emma's hair and Ross decided to initiate the talk.

"Now that Daddy's here, will you tell us what's wrong?"

Emma looked at her father and slowly nodded. She didn't want to believe that it could be true, but she just had to let her father and her mother know about it.

"I'm scared. Daddy not gonna see me no more." Emma told truthfully.

"Oh baby girl, why do you think that?" Ross asked, curious where she got that idea. He looked at Rachel and she got the same expression on her face as Ross, confusion.

"I dreamt it and dreams come true." Emma innocently answered.

Ross and Rachel couldn't help but chuckle at that statement.

"Of course they do sweetie, " Rachel started to explain, "But in this case, it's different."

Emma looked at her mother with a little ray of hope. "How?"

"Well..." Rachel stammered before looking at Ross for help.

"You're right Ems, dreams do come true." Ross stepped in. "You see, dreams has more than one meaning. The dreams that can come true are your aspirations or things that you want to accomplish in your life. The dreams that you have while you're sleeping are harmless and your mind is what makes it up. See the differences?"

Emma just sat there, confused, not understanding one bit of what her father just said. "So dreams do come true?" Emma asked, trying to see if that part is true.

"Of course it does, Emma." Rachel answered. "My dream came true."

"What was your dream Mommy?" Emma curiously asked as she put her chin in the palm of her hands.

"I always wanted to work for a big fashion company. After working my way up, here I am today, living my dream. " Rachel smiled widely as she thought about the things that she accomplished in her life.

"I'm also living in my dream." Ross added.

"With dinos?" Emma surprisingly asked.

Ross nodded and proudly smiled. "Uh-huh. I was always fascinated with dinosaurs as a young kid and I knew that I wanted to be a Paleontologist."

Emma smiled at the stories that she just heard from her mom and dad. A flash of the dream creped back into her mind and her face drooped back to being sad.

"What's with the long face?" Rachel asked as she saw Emma's facial expression change again.

"Daddy's still gonna leave." Emma sadly pointed out.

"Look sweetie," Ross started, "Daddy can't promise you that I'll never go away because right now, it's not possible. I still live in New York and my job is still there."

"Then quit and be with me and mommy!" Emma suggested, raising her voice.

Ross couldn't believe his daughter's sudden outburst. "Tell you what, I promise you that I'll be here all summer. Do you know how long it is?" Ross paused and Emma shook her head. "It's about three months. We've still have a lot of time together and there's nothing better than spending it with you. Baby girl, I know it's not much right now, but it'll have to do."

Emma nodded, accepting the fact that there's nothing more she can do. She pulled the covers completely off her body and stood up, wrapping her arms around her father's neck for a hug. Ross wrapped his arms around his little girl, rubbing her back and enjoying this little moment with her.

"Love you Daddy." Emma whispered before kissing his cheek.

Ross' heart always melted when he heard those three little words from his daughter. Sure he heard it before, but when she just said it at that time, it somehow felt different to him. Her words struck directly to his heart and made him feel warmer inside.

Ross and Emma finally broke that hug that seemed like an eternity.

"Bedtime for you missy." Rachel ordered as she saw Emma yawning.

"But it's only this much." Emma pleaded as she raised up seven fingers to tell the time.

Rachel shook her head. "Nope, it's this much," Rachel lifted one more of Emma's finger, "I'm sure that you're tired after being out all day today and not having your nap this afternoon."

"Okay." She turned to Ross. "Good night Daddy." Emma said as she got her goodnight hug and kiss from her father.

"Sweet dreams Baby Girl."

Rachel picked up Emma and Ross watched them as they walk out of the bedroom. _That was an interesting conversation. _Ross thought.

Ross knew that when he gave Rachel the opportunity to go, not only she was involved but so was their daughter. He thought that she would be too young to be having a problem of separation and didn't think that this would've been an issue. He guessed that it was because back in New York, even though Rachel and himself didn't live in the same place, it would be no problem for Ross to see Emma because he would literally be across the street.

Speaking of home, he realized that he forgot to check his answer machine back at his apartment to see if he had any important messages. He would usually check it everyday, but he forgot to check on it for the past three days. He picked up his cell and dialed the number to his apartment. Listening, he heard that he had four new messages.

He got one from his mother, wondering where he was and telling him to call her as soon as he got the message. He found a pad and paper and wrote down a note reminding him to call his mother ASAP. Ross heard the beep and recognize the caller of the next message. Ross shook his head as he heard Joey asking him if he would want to watch the Yankees versus the Red Sox game that night with him since Chandler couldn't make it. It wasn't until long after that he heard the next message was Joey again, apologizing and telling him to forget about the game because he remembered that he's not even in town. Ross chuckled, saying to himself "Typical Joey."

The voice of the next caller had a serious tone and Ross knew off the bat that it was from work. The message was short but brief enough for Ross to get the gist of it. He felt a bit unease with the message and hoped that it wasn't that serious. He dialed the number to the head of the Paleontology department and wondered what's going on.

* * *

Rachel quietly exited Emma's room as soon as Emma quickly fell asleep after dropping her on her bed. She walked towards the kitchen and entered through the swinging door for a drink of water. Upon entering the room, she noticed Ben sitting on the dining table, drinking a glass filled with juice.

"Hey Ben." Rachel greeted as she grabbed a bottle of water and sat next to Ben at the table.

Ben didn't say anything immediately and was pondering on a question that he just have. He didn't know how to approach the subject and wondered what the answer would be.

Rachel noticed the quietness of Ben and saw the thinking look on his face. "Hey Ben, what are you thinking about?"

"Just stuff." Ben cooly answered.

"Well if you want somebody to talk to, I'm here."

Ben just nodded. Rachel took couple sips of her water before putting the bottle back in the refrigerator and pushing the door open.

"Aunt Rachel, wait." Ben called out. "There's something I have to ask you."

Rachel smiled. "Sure."

Rachel walked towards the table, sitting in her spot she was in previously.

"What's on your mind kiddo?" Rachel asked, watching his facial expression turn into shyness and awkwardness.

"I don't know how to ask this but..." Ben trailed, trying to gather up his thoughts. "Well, since you and my dad are dating again, is going to move here to be with you?"

Rachel was thrown off by Ben's question that she stayed silent for about a good ten seconds and didn't respond immediately. She was about to say something but Ben continued to talk.

"Don't get me wrong because I'm happy for the both of you, but I just have to know. I would want to spend as much time with him before he goes."

There, he said it and he have to admit that he felt better getting it out. He looked over at Rachel and noticed that she had a sympathetic smile on her face.

"Oh, Ben. I don't know what to tell you, but right now, we're not going to live together and your father isn't going to move."

Rachel paused to see the expression on his face and could see that he relaxed a bit.

"Who knows, maybe we will someday but sweetie, we just started dating again and it's too quick to even consider that."

That caught Bens attention again. "If you do, would you live here?"

Rachel shrugged. "Who knows, it could be here. Would it be so bad if it was?" She curiously asked.

Ben looked down and shook his head. "It would get a bit getting used to the fact that he wouldn't be minutes away if I wanted to go out with him, but it wouldn't be too bad if he did. I just want my dad to be happy and you're the reason why he is." Ben said truthfully.

_Sweet kid, just like his father._ Rachel thought. "Thanks Ben."

Rachel reached out and Ben gave in to the hug. Ben broke the hug and bid her goodnight. Rachel returned it back and remained sitting as Ben exited the kitchen.

Oh, what a day. First Emma asked about the situation with her father and Ben just did it now. Yup, she definitely had to tell Ross about this.

* * *

Ross just sat on the bed, shocked and confused. He couldn't understand what was going on back in New York with his work and he was worried about the whole thing. Serious allegations, emergency meeting scheduled to talk about the situation plagued his mind and Ross couldn't understand what the heck was going on. He didn't know how Rachel would react when he have to tell her that he has to abruptly leave for a couple of days to discuss the matter and hoped that she would still be there to support him if worse comes to worst.

Rachel entered the bedroom after that sweet talk with Ben and doesn't notice Ross' worrisome face in the beginning. She kissed him on the lips and sat on the bed, getting ready to tell him about Ben's question.

"Oh Ross, you wouldn't believed what Ben just asked me now." Rachel started to ramble while Ross was still in his own world. "Can you believe it that Ben asked me if you were going to live here? Don't get me wrong, I would love to live with you, but only when we feel that we're ready. I mean, come on, we haven't even made a month and it'll just be too soon if we did move in together. Don't you think?"

Rachel finally looked at Ross' face and didn't like what she was seeing. He'd been quiet during her whole rambling session and she didn't know what he was thinking. She started to get scared and afraid to ask what was going on.

"Ross, tell me. Did something happen back home?" At this point her mind was spinning with bad scenarios that started to get her all freaked.

Ross looked at her, with his face expression looking like a deer caught in the headlights. "Yeah and it looks like I have to get back immediately."

"You? Don't you mean we? Whatever it is, I'm coming with you." Rachel confusedly asked.

If it was something about the gang, she would definitely make the trip there. Screw work right now, her friends are what's important.

Ross shook her head. "No, just me."

"No Ross!" Rachel yelled. She didn't know exactly what the heck was going on but she wasn't about to stay home while one of her friends was in trouble. "If something's happening with the gang, I'm coming with you, end of story."

"Rach, it isn't about the gang." Ross told truthfully.

"Then what is it about?" Rachel was downright confused at this point and didn't know why Ross wasn't telling her about what's going on.

Ross took a deep breath and looked at her straight in the eyes. "It's about me."

* * *

Ahh...(scratching head) yeah, so there it is. Confused? Well, welcome to the world of confusion and it looks like you'll have to wait until the next chapter to know what the heck is going on (wink, wink). Feel free to speculate.

Yeah I know, I'm terrible with updates. I've gotten e-mails asking if and when I was going to update my story and I came up with a way to no keep you in the dark any longer. I've seen some other authors do this, so I shall do it too. Look at my profile and I shall give you wonderful readers the 411 on my situation. What I can tell you though is that I have written up to chapter six. Yay me! Kinda stuck on chapter seven though :(

Oh well, what can you do about that damn writers block.

Anyway, all I'm asking is to leave a review and I can't thank enough to the people who drops a review. Special thanks to Kerop10588 for getting me to sit down and get back into the swing of things. Thanks again for your patience :D


	5. Chapter 5

Challenge Being Miles Away: Chapter 5

_**Disclaimer: **_

**_Not making money? True _**

**_Character's belong to me? Nope_**

**_Doing this for fun and pure enjoyment? Definitely_**

_**Bottom line: Don't sue me!

* * *

**_

Ross never thought that he would see a haunting look of anger and obvious disappointment on the face of his daughter. _You promised! You lie to me! I don't like you anymore!_. Those words from his baby girl plagued his mind as he downed a bottle of beer in the kitchen. So what if it was too early for one? He needed it and found it to be a bit of ease on his mind.

Once morning came after getting the call from the night before, Ross told Emma that he had to go away for a couple of days because of an emergency at work and she obviously didn't take it that well. She was throwing a surprising tantrum and stormed off to her bedroom.

Seeing that his bottle is empty, he stood up and rinsed the bottle to put it on the side for recycling. He sat down and opened a pink photo album that he took earlier from the living room. Ross flipped through the pages with a smile growing each time he turned over a page. He didn't realize that they had that much pictures of Emma and estimated that Rachel must've been through countless of exposures, documenting almost every move or gesture of their daughter.

Ross stopped at a page and stared at a particular picture for a while.

"I love that picture too."

Ross sat with his back against the door that he didn't notice that Rachel been leaning on the side of the door frame for a while. With Ross' back still facing her, she placed her hands on his shoulder and kissed him on his right cheek.

"She was so happy when I dipped her feet whenever a wave would run up the shore." Ross said in a nostalgic tone.

Rachel smiled as she remembered the time when Ross and herself went to the Geller's beach house for a weekend. Jack and Judy wanted Ross and Rachel to bring recently turned a year-old Emma since they didn't get the chance to see her during the birthday party. Monica and Chandler was also invited, but they immediately declined the offer. Something about beaches triggered some memories that they wish were forgotten and although it has been years since that happened, they prefer not to reminisce about that vacation ever again.

"Did you hear her earlier? Man, she's really upset over me leaving." Ross took a deep breath and sighed.

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Ross. She'll get over it." Rachel started to massage his shoulders as Ross closed the album.

"I called the airlines and got on the same flight as Ben." Ross informed.

"So, you'll be leaving in three days." Rachel ask, confirming if what she heard is correct.

"Looks like it."

Rachel stopped massaging his shoulders and pulled a chair next to him.

"You shouldn't have persuaded me to take this job." Rachel said out of the blue. "This wouldn't be going on if we were still in New York."

Ross shook his head. "No Rach, not this again. Remember, you wanted to take the job and I was the reason that made you _not _want to go." Ross took her hand. "You owe it to yourself."

Rachel stood up and paced around the room. "Maybe I do, but right now looks like it's not the right time. I should quit right now and head back to New York with you."

"No!" Curiously peeking through a crack in the door, Emma yelled out as she ran through the door and into her mothers arms. "Don't do it!"

Rachel held her daughter in her arms and raised an eye brow. "You don't want mommy to quit her job?"

Emma slowly nodded.

"Why?" Rachel questioned, wondering what her reason would be.

"Greens don't quit!" Emma commanded.

Rachel smiled widely as she giggled at her daughter. She's definitely like her, alright. "You're right missy, we don't."

Ross continued sitting on the chair as he watched the interaction between mother and daughter. He didn't know what to do or say, so he remained as an observer. A part of him was hesitant to speak to his daughter because he had no clue the state of emotion that she was feeling at the moment. She could be playing the cool front towards her mother, but could pull a total one-eighty on him.

Rachel put Emma down and Ross took a deep breath. He took one step towards his daughter before kneeling on his right knee down in order to be face-to-face with her. "Are you still upset with me Ems?" Ross asked.

No words were needed, her actions said it all.

She just stood there, arms crossed and still had a look of betrayal on her face. Ross found it freaky that her death-glare face was a striking familiarity that belong of Rachel's.

"You promise." Emma pointed out, obvious that she's still not fine about Ross leaving even if it's for a couple of days. "You said you stay long time."

"I am, but there something going on back at home that I need to resolve." Ross tried to reason.

"What is it?" Emma face softened a bit as she curiously asked.

Ross shrugged. "I don't know sweetie, but it sounds very serious."

"You in trouble? Been a bad boy and need spankings?"

Ross couldn't help but chuckled at his daughter's latest question. "I hope not."

Emma pondered for a while before jumping and hanging onto Ross. Ross started to loosen up and was relieved while he continued to hold her into his arms.

"I not mad anymore." Emma said as she kissed his cheek. "But very sad you leaving."

Ross broke the hug to look at her but kept his arms around her small body. "Sweetie, it's only for a few days, I promise."

"Can I come with you?" Emma begged, using her puppy-eye look that she obviously inherited from her father. "I be a good girl."

Ross didn't know how to answer that so he looked at Rachel. Rachel wasn't expecting that request and didn't want to answer it right away. She knew that it was something to be discussed between herself and Ross.

"Honey, go and play with your toys in the living room with Ben." Rachel said. "Mommy and Daddy will have to talk about it and we'll let you know when we make a decision."

Emma nodded and exited the kitchen. Ross returned to the seat he was sitting in earlier and Rachel sat across from him.

"What are we going to do?"

* * *

It was a bright and sunny summer day in New York. Everyone seemed to embrace the sunny weather, but Ross thought that it was entirely contradicting with the way he was feeling about being back there earlier than he had planned. He looked around at the familiar buildings of his neighborhood and knew that he was two blocks away from his apartment as he sat in the back seat of a taxi. He yawned and stretched his body the best he could, careful not to wake up the little girl whose head is on his lap.

Looked like Emma got her request. Ross was a little bit unsure on what to do, but Rachel thought that it was something that she could grant her. Rachel saw it as no problem since she would be busy at work for the next coming week due to a fashion show to promote the summer line that was coming out. Things would be hectic at work and knowing that she wouldn't have to worry about Emma because she could be working long hours, she found it as a perfect solution.

The cab stopped in front of Ross' apartment complex and Ross carried Emma before sliding out of the car. The cab driver already pulled out Ross' black duffel bag and a back pack from the trunk and Ross paid him. The cab sped off as Ross searched his pockets for his keys.

"Need help?" A voice asked from behind and Ross knew who it was.

Turning around he smiled and nodded. "That'll be nice. Thanks Joey."

Joey smiled. "No problem. Kind of looked like your hands are full at the moment."

Joey carried the duffel bag and backpack as they made there way to Ross' apartment. Once they reached the apartment, Ross decided to temporarily place Emma on his bed since he needed to get the spare room ready.

When Ross got back in the living room, Joey remained standing by the door and unsure where to put the bags. Ross knew what he was thinking as he saw Joey looking around the place.

"Just put it down, I'll put it away later." Ross requested.

Joey nodded and did what he was told. "Weren't you suppose to stay there during the whole summer?" He curiously asked. "The summer isn't over yet, is it?"

Ross shook his head and chucked. "No Joey. I got something going on at work."

Joey quizzically raised a brow. "And they needed you to come to New York to fix it?"

Ross smacked his lips and nodded.

Joey noticed that he wasn't too pleased about the whole thing, so he decided to change the subject. "So anyway, Mon wants us to get over to her place tomorrow for dinner. She would be pretty surprised that you're here and with Emma too."

Ross nodded. "Sounds good."

"Want to catch a ride with Pheebs and Mike."

Ross shook head, quickly declining the offer. "No way. I'm not taking a seat in the death cab if Phoebe is driving."

Joey chuckled. "I'm sure we can get Mike to drive."

"Oh, we better."

Joey nodded. "Well I better go and let you take a sleep. You must be pretty jet lagged. Want me to join you on the couch?" Joey joked.

Ross wasn't smiling and Joey took it as his cue to get out of there. "And I'm off."

Ross slightly smiled. "Thanks again Joey."

Joey waved goodbye and exited the door. Ross scratched his head and headed towards his bedroom. He was pretty jet lagged and decided that setting up the other room could be put on hold for now.

* * *

Sitting at the dining table with her laptop on, Rachel found it to be too quiet and peaceful for her taste. She has gotten accustomed to having Emma run in and politely ask for her breakfast at that exact time. Not that morning though, Emma was thousands of miles away from her mother for the first time ever.

She looked at her laptop and realized that she's finished typing up that marketing report. She saved her document on a flash drive and closed the word processing application. An instant message window popped out on her screen and she's thrilled to see that it's from Ross.

_Hey sweetie, can't sleep? It must be 1:30 a.m. in New York. _Rachel typed

_Yeah. Kind of got the whole paranoia, uneasiness, and being scared out of my mind going on over here._

_Any ideas on what's going on?_

_None...They better be giving me an award, a car, or a million dollars!_

Rachel chuckled._ LOL_

_So what've you been doing? _Ross typed.

_Just finished typing something for work. Sooo don't feel like going today._

_Me too...Don't want to head on the campus later today._

Rachel sadly smiled as she looked at her watch.

_I really hate to end this but I have to head to work already. Call me after your meeting, okay._

_Sure, I'll talk to you later._ _Love you._

Rachel smiled widely _Love you too._ _Bye..._

Rachel sadly logged off and shut down her laptop. She wished that she could call in sick that day but knew it was impossible.

The fashion show was ten days away and she can already feel the pressure of setting things off with a bang. The coming show was very important to the company and Rachel knew that she needed to be on the job. Meetings to strategize the new line was grueling and she started to question why she was offered and took the job. She was a merchandiser at Ralph Lauren and now she's a marketing assistant at Louie Vuitton. How she got that job and a great pay to go with that? She would never know. All she knew was that she had the natural knack for it and she wasn't fired yet, so that had to be a good thing!

Her cell phone started to ring and she knew that it was work already.

* * *

A shrill scream traveled through the room and Ross jolted up immediately. He looked to his left side where he last placed his sleeping daughter and noticed that her sleeping body is not there anymore. Worst case scenario ran through his head as he ran to the living room.

He frantically searched around the living room and when he looked at the his front door, he noticed that it was wide open. Ross cursed and ran out, looking left and right to see if he could find anything. Ross called out Emma's name but got no response. He was now freaking out and searched frantically for his little girl. Rachel would definitely killed him if something happened to her.

How the hell could she have gotten out of the apartment anyways? As Ross can remember, she couldn't even turn a door knob. He seen her attempt to do so but she could never get it. What a perfect time for her to figure out now.

Ross ran back to his apartment and started to dial 911 frantically. Just as the operator answered, Ross canceled his request as a huge wave of relief washed over him when he saw Emma in the arms of his sister.

Ross ran up to them and took Emma, hugging tightly. "I thought I lost you for a while."

Monica looked at him quizzically. "Why would you think that?"

"I heard a girl's scream and I thought that it was Emma. I ran out in the living room and the door was open. I called for her in the halls and got no response."

"Sorry Ross." Monica apologetic. "I entered the apartment with the spare key you gave me and I saw Emma walk out of your room. I squealed in surprised and she shushed me, telling me that you were sleeping. With Emma in my arms, we headed towards the stairway after we heard the scream and the cries. A little girl fell down and we were the first to attend her. She was crying in pain and I could see that her arm was broken, so I went outside to use my cell since I had no reception in the building. I noticed an ambulance nearby and spotted the paramedics who were at Central Perk. That's probably when you were calling out for Emma." Monica started to rub his arms. "I'm sorry I put you through this worry."

Ross shook his head. "Nah, I'm all paranoid anyway." He tried to joke.

Monica smiled. "So what're you doing today."

"One thing for sure, taking care of business."

"Okay, want me to watch Emma while you do your thing?"

Ross smiled at the offer. "Thanks Mon."

"No problem, you're coming to dinner right?"

Ross nodded. "Yeah, Joey told me about it. The meeting with definitely be done by supper."

"What time is your meeting?"

Ross looked at his watch. "In an hour."

"Well, I just stopped by to see for myself if Joey was right and now I'll let you be."

Ross nodded and turned his attention to Emma. "Ems, your going with Aunt Monica for a little while and Daddy will see you soon."

"I go with aunt Moni?" Emma asked.

"Yes sweetie."

Emma shrugged her shoulders. "Okay. See babies?"

"Of course sweetie." Monica answered.

Emma cheered as she reached out for her Aunt "Moni". Ross and Rachel always tried to teach her how to say Monica's name correctly, but she always referred her to Moni. So Moni it was for Monica. Ross gave Monica a backpack of stuff for Emma and kissed Emma on the forehead.

"Be good for aunt Mon okay?"

Emma smiled and nodded excitedly. She always wanted to see her baby cousins that she heard so much about but something always prevented it from happening. It was either Emma was sleeping, her parents couldn't take her, or she wasn't allowed to see them because they were sleeping.

They bid a final farewell and Monica and Emma were off. Ross watched the door closed shut and he started to head towards the kitchen, to make a much needed cup of coffee.

* * *

Rachel entered her bedroom, entirely worn out and lazy to do anything else as she collapsed on her bed. She looked at the direction of her clock and read that it was 6:05 pm. She would've called Ross but knew that he was probably at his meeting because she remember him saying something about a noon meeting. Her cell phone ringed and she sat up, searching in her purse to look for it. She pulled it out of her purse and looked at her caller ID, smiling widely as she answered.

"Hey Mon. What's going on?" Rachel happily greeted.

"Hey Rach, somebody wanted to call and say hi."

Rachel listened as she heard Monica in the background and a recognizable giggle. "Hello? Who am I talking too?" Rachel played around. She knew that it was her daughter.

"Hi Mommy!" Emma yelled. "I at Aunt Moni and Unkie Chandy's."

Rachel smiled as she heard her daughter's own nicknames for Monica and Chandler. Chandler wasn't too thrilled about it, but played along with it anyways.

"Really? Are you being a good girl?"

"Yes mommy."

"Good girl. Can mommy talk to aunt Monica now?"

"Okay. Love you."

Rachel smiled widely. "Love you too baby girl."

Rachel got off her bed and headed towards the kitchen to search for something to eat.

"She's just too cute, isn't she." Monica gushed as she got the phone back.

"I know, maybe too much though."

Rachel knows first hand that her daughters cuteness could be too dangerous for her or even Ross. She could just use that to persuade her parents to get whatever she had her eye on. Ross always joked that she was so much like her and Rachel would always deny it, but lately, she's been kind of seeing it for herself.

"So how was Ross when you saw him?" Rachel curiously asked.

"Besides the fact that I gave him quite a scare for a while, he seemed to be coping. He looked tired. He must've got only a couple of hours of sleep last night." Monica truthfully replied.

"I'm not surprised. He was shocked when he got the phone call. He had no idea what was going on and I could tell that he wasn't pleased about coming back home because of it."

"I'm sure he was." Monica heard enough about the whole thing with Ross and she knew that Rachel was on the same page as her, so she decided to change the subject. "Hey, so how was that dinner of yours?"

Rachel grinned as she started to replay the events in her head. She sat on a chair and happily told her best-friend a night that she would definitely never forget.

* * *

Ross frantically paced around the outside of the conference room. Time was almost approaching and Ross felt as if he had to gather his mentality before entering the room. He didn't know what to expect and hoped that it wasn't too serious.

_What a stupid question_, he thought to himself. _Why else would it not be serious if they didn't want to tell me over the freakin' phone! _

Ross thought that when he got tenured not too long ago, he was set there for life. Now there he was, scared out of his mind that he may lose his job and would be forced to find another. Ross stopped pacing as a thought dropped on him.

_Would it be so bad if I did?_ Ross asked himself. The part of Ross that needed complete security and control in his life was screaming 'hell yeah'. Ross would practically jump on that train right away at the moment, but this time, he was listening to that tiny part of him that said no. He was now coming to a realization that it may not be as bad as he thought that it could be. Possibly could be beneficiary for him. There was only one way of finding out.

Ross took a glance at his watch and he knew that it was time. Taking his final stride, he inhaled deeply and turned the knob.

* * *

Not too much to say but I ask to please review readers. Spring break has already started for me and I had to jump back on the train since I didn't write anything last week. Thanks again you guys! 


	6. Chapter 6

Challenge Being Miles Away: Chapter 6

**_Stick disclaimer .  
_**_**In other words, same disclaimers apply.

* * *

**_

Certainly dazed and shocked, Ross entered his sister's house. Chandler looked at the door and was concerned when he seen Ross' face. Chandler stood up and went up to Ross.

"Hey man, you okay?" Chandler worriedly asked.

"Where's Emma?" Ross mindlessly asked, avoiding eye contact with him.

"In the kitchen."

Chandler was definitely worried and concerned for his long-time friend. _What the hell happened in that meeting!_

Ross didn't say a word and walked towards the kitchen door. Stopping at the door, he heard the familiar giggles and wondered what they could be doing there. He peaked in the room, seeing Emma sitting on the counter in the middle of the room and listening intently to her aunt.

Ross smiled, knowing that Monica was teaching Emma how to make chocolate chip cookies. He chuckled at that idea and knew that it was better that Emma learn how to do it from his sister since Rachel doesn't have that great of a record for making desserts. Gotta admit, the beef in a trifle was just a disaster.

Ross entered the kitchen and stood on the other side of the counter. "You do know that she's too young to learn the recipe." He pointed out.

Ross tried to dip his finger in the mixed batter, but Monica swatted his hand away just like they always used to do back in the days.

"Hi daddy!" Emma squealed as she reached out to be carried.

Ross smiled and took her in his arms, kissing her forehead.

"How did it go?" Monica asked.

"I definitely have some news." Ross cooly answered. "I'll tell you guys at dinner."

Monica nodded and respected her brother's wishes. "Are you heading back in the city?"

"Yeah, want me to get something?"

Monica sheepishly smiled. "Can you please pick up a chocolate pie. Joey's request."

"Consider it done."

Monica reached in her pocket and pulled out a set of keys. "Here, take the SUV. The car seat is already in there."

Ross smiled. "Thanks Mon." Ross kissed her cheek and exited through the kitchen door.

* * *

Joey sat on the familiar orange couch in Central Perk. He glanced down at his watch and wondered where Phoebe or Ross was. He was pretty sure that the meeting time was at six and it was now twenty past. Gunther kept eyeing him and Joey knew that he would have to buy something soon or else he would get kicked out. Joey looked back at the counter and see that Gunther had a look that asked if he was going to get anything or what. Joey looked toward the direction of the door and still doesn't see any of his friends in sight. Sighing, he stood up and walked up towards the counter. 

"Hey Gunther, can I get a small coffee to go." Joey ordered.

"Coming up." Gunther happily replied as he prepared Joey's order.

Joey dialed Phoebe's phone number but he just got her answer machine. He then dialed up Ross, but that too had the same story. Joey received his order and started to add his cream and sugar. He had no clue where his friends were and he must admit that he's surprised that he's the one that's early because it's usually the other way around most of the time. While stirring his coffee, he heard his name called out by one of his favorite person.

"Unkie Joey!" The little girl said enthusiastically.

Joey turned and had a huge smile on his face when he saw Emma standing near Ross at the door. Emma sprinted towards him and Joey picked her up.

"Hey Emma. How you doin'?" Joey said in his typical tone.

"Good. How you doin'?" Emma asked right back.

Joey giggled. "Doin' fine kiddo."

"Great Joe, you just had to teach my kid that." Ross joked.

"Yeah, you know, gotta somehow pass some of my wisdom. Just be glad that I don't teach her the other stuff." Joey smirked.

Ross didn't even want to think about the "other stuff" as he walked closer to Joey. "Sorry for getting here late Joe, but little miss here fell asleep and you know how cranky she gets if I wake her."

Joey shook his head and held up his free hand. "No problem. Seems like Pheebs and Mike are late also."

"Well...Monica lent me their car. Want to catch a ride."

Joey smiled appreciatively. "Thank you. Gunther was kind of giving me the eye already and I was forced to buy this coffee."

Ross giggled. "Let's roll then."

* * *

"Chandler, you didn't cut the hedges the way I asked you to!" 

Monica came walking down the stairs as Chandler rolled his eyes and moaned.

"Mon, it's just the gang coming over. Not the fricken president."

Chandler knew he gave the wrong choice of words as he received the death glare from his wife.

"Look Mon, I trimmed them, that's the main thing. Besides it's getting dark and the gang wouldn't care if it was half-an-inch taller than you would've wanted it."

Monica sighed. "Sorry Chandler, but this is the first time that the gang is coming over at the house for dinner and I wanted it to be special, I guess."

Chandler got off the couch and gave his wife a hug. "Sweetie, it's going to be fine, just like it always has."

Monica broke the hug and smiled, giving him a peck on the lips. "I love you."

Chandler smiled. "Love you too."

The door bell rang and they both got the door. At the door was Joey with Ross and Emma just behind. They all said their greetings and entered the living room. Ross handed Monica the pie and she took it to put in the refrigerator.

"Guys want a beer?" Chandler offered.

Joey jumped on the offer and Ross declined. Chandler headed towards the kitchen while Joey sat on the couch and Ross placed Emma in a playpen in between the couch and the comfy chair. Ross gave Emma a toy to play with and sat on the comfy chair to watch whatever was on the television.

Chandler returned to the living room, handing Joey his beer and sitting on the other side of the couch.

"Hey, do you guys know what's keeping the Hannigan's?" Chandler asked as he looked at his watch. "I know Monica's doing some last minute preparations in the kitchen, but you know her, she'll finish on time and she would notice if they're a second late."

"Eeks, don't want to see the vein again." Joey declared.

Ross chuckled. "I'll check if Monica needs help with anything."

When Ross entered the kitchen, he noticed that his sister was just about done with everything.

"Looks like I'm too late. You're practically done already."

Monica grinned at her brother as she put the last dish on the table. "Yes I am. Big help you are." Monica joked. "So did you tell Rachel your news yet? You know she called me earlier to check up on you."

Ross scratched his head. "No, I didn't have the chance. After reaching home from picking up Emma and getting the pie at the bakery, Emma fell asleep in the car, so I put her in her bed. I lay down on my bed and feel asleep also." Ross arched his brows. "She's not going to be too happy about that is she?"

Monica put her fist under her chin. "She told you to call her as soon as possible?"

Ross nodded.

"Yeah she is."

The door bell chimed and Ross and Monica knew that it was Phoebe and Mike, so they exited the kitchen and went into the living room.

Greetings were said as Phoebe and Mike entered the house. They apologized to Joey for being late and claimed that they had a legitimate reason. Joey wanted to know what it was and they said that it could wait until later. Since everyone was there, Monica directed the people to the dining table.

Monica sat at the head of the rectangle table, in clockwise motion, followed by Chandler, Joey, Phoebe, Mike, Ross, and Emma in a high chair between Monica and Ross. As usual, Monica made more courses than what everyone could intake, but all were equally mouth watering.

With everyone there, Ross couldn't keep to himself any longer. He stood up and tapped his glass for their attention. Everyone quizzically looked up at Ross and wondered what this could be about.

"Hey guys. I've got some interesting news that I wanted all of you to know." Ross took a deep breath and smiled. "The reason why I got called back here is because I got a grant."

"So, they dragged your ass all the way back here to tell you that you got money to dig a big hole anywhere of your choosing?" Chandler sarcastically asked. "They couldn't just tell you on the phone?"

Ross shrugged. "I know that's stupid, but they claimed that they wanted to give it to me personally since I've been trying to get one for a while now."

"So when can you finally go on a dig that you actually didn't lie on your resume with?" Monica asked.

Ross shot her a look. "Whenever I want within a year. Look you guys, I finally can do a dig in the Painted Desert and fully excavate the area." He said excitedly.

"Not to sound rude here Ross, but can we eat?" Joey whiningly asked as he felt his stomach grumble for the...oh well, he lost count, but all he knew was that he was pretty hungry! He ate Monica's last lasagna a long time ago and he have been craving Monica's cooking for a while now.

Ross nodded and sat down.

Phoebe looked at Mike and he nodded as they both stood up, holding hands.

"Sorry Joey, but we also have some news." Mike announced.

Joey threw his napkin on the table and crossed his arms like a little kid not getting what he wanted. He managed to smile a bit to encourage the two to spit out the news. _The sooner, the better!_

Phoebe and Mike smiled. "We're going to have a baby." Phoebe happily announced. Everyone was surprised but happy for the newlyweds as they congratulated the couple.

After all of the commotion is done and Phoebe and Mike sat down, it was now Joey who stood up after wrestling with his conscious.

"Well since we're all telling news, I guess it's the right time to tell you mines." Joey announced.

"Ooh, you got a new agent and you have tons of auditions." Phoebe randomly answered

Joey smiled. "Well...yeah."

Joey heard a rounds of congratulatory comments but that wasn't all what Joey had to tell. He wanted to include something else, but he felt like it would be a total curve ball to them. He didn't want to tell them now and possibly spoil their appetite, so he decided to withhold the rest of it for now.

"Anything else Joey?" Phoebe asked, snapping out of his daze.

Joey shook his head and smiled. He sat down and everyone happily got to the food after hearing some wonderful news from the group.

* * *

The clear, starry sky was absolutely beautiful as Joey laid down in the hammock outside. He hasn't seen the stars shine so bright in the long time that he forgot what it was like living out of the city. After dinner, he excused himself and ended up in the backyard. Before going outside, Monica offered him the chocolate pie that he asked for, but he kindly declined. Monica found it very odd that he would pass up any food in general and have been keeping an eye on him while she did the dishes. 

"Hey Mon, Phoebe and Mike are about to go." Chandler announced as he brought up the last dish on the counter.

Monica shut the water off and faced Chandler. "Thanks Chandler. Tell Joey that, he might want to say goodnight also."

Chandler nodded as he exited through the kitchen door. He walked towards Joey and noticed that he had a thoughtful look on his face, something he hasn't seen on his face for a while.

"Hey Joe, Pheebs and Mike are about to leave."

Joey nodded as he entered the house, followed by Chandler. When they got to the living room, Phoebe and Mike already got their light jackets on and they were saying goodbye to Ross and Emma.

_Tell them already! _ His conscience was screaming in his head and Joey knew that it was better to tell them all at once, just like he planned to do so.

"Mon, can you get in here for a bit. I have to tell you guys something else." Joey called out.

Monica came from the kitchen and everyone sat down. Ross sat on the comfy chair while the rest sat on the couch. Everyone looked at Joey quizzically as he stood in front of the television.

Joey took a deep breath. It was definitely very hard for him to tell but he knew that it was something that he has to do for himself.

In the past couple of months, a lot of things has changed. Monica and Chandler bought a beautiful, comfy home to raise the twins in; Phoebe got married to her first serious boyfriend, and now was pregnant with a baby for her to keep this time; Rachel moved to Paris because of a great job offer; and Ross just received a grant that would allow him to dig up the bones of his long-time passion. Everyone had something new, except for Joey. Now, it's his turn.

"Remember when I said...well when Phoebe guessed that I got a new agent and had auditions coming up?" Joey paused to observe their reactions as everyone nodded. "I got a new agent, her name is Bobbie and I think that she can help me out with my career."

"That's great Joey. Estelle wasn't that great anyway. Heck, I think I got you in better auditions when I posed to be your agent." Phoebe stated.

Joey smiled at the recollection. "Yeah, thanks Pheebs."

"Anything else sweetie?" Monica asked. "I'm kinda going crazy thinking there are dirty dishes still in the sink."

Joey smiled. _This was definitely the hard part._ "I'm moving to L.A."

Eyes went wide, silence arose. Joey looked around at the various reactions and just like he expected, everyone was surprised and shocked.

"When are you moving?" Chandler asked, breaking the silence.

"Two weeks." Joey answered.

Phoebe's turn to ask. "Who do you know in L.A.?"

Joey shrugged. "Practically nobody. Just my sister Gina and my nephew Michael."

"Do you know the time when you considered moving out of New York?" Monica asked.

Joey raised his shoulders. "I guess it kind of popped in my mind when everything was changing, I guess." He replied truthfully. "Something was happening to everyone except for me. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for you guys, but I felt like I needed something for myself."

"Did you tell Rachel?" Ross asked.

Joey shook his head.

"Well at least when you get there, you wouldn't be recognized as the guy on the poster who had VD." Chandler joked.

"Yeah, he'll just be Kevin from that infomercial." Ross joined in and everyone was laughing at that point.

"Laugh all you want. I got you guys to buy the product." Joey defended.

Laughter went on for a while, but once the laughing subsided, Phoebe was the first to hug Joey, with the others following.

What a day it has been.

* * *

Still coming back? Hope so and I hope you continue to do so. 

Just a note for you readers, my vacation is sadly coming to a close and school would be back in session. With that being said, I don't know what the gaps would be between chapters.

You folks know the drill, drop a review and you will be handsomely rewarded...in life :)


	7. Chapter 7

Challenge Being Miles Away: Chapter 7

_**Disclaimer: The purpose of this fic is for entertainment purposes only and nothing monetary is coming out of this. I do not own the Friends characters and the closest that I'll ever get is by owning the nine box sets that already came out.

* * *

**_

Why is it that time always sneaks up on you when you're having fun? Sometimes it made you wonder why time goes by painfully slow when you're bored out of your mind.

No sympathy there from Ross to his students, especially on their first day back in class. Today, there was one thing that they could agree on. For once in his career, Ross was in the same boat as his students. He didn't really want to be back, but he had to.

Walking down the streets, Ross felt like he wasn't ready to face his empty apartment. To him, it didn't feel like home anymore and something was missing. No doubt in his mind he knew who it was.

Life with Rachel no longer minutes away was upon him. He knew that it wasn't going to be easy saying goodbye, but he didn't expect it to be that hard. When the time came for Ross to get past security, both tried to put on their boldest face, but they knew deep down that they were doing the total opposite inside. The time they spent during the summer was as if they were in their own world. A glimpse, if you will, of what may come with their lives together. Some days would start off great and stay that way. Other days would start with a ridiculous banter that eventually turned into an all out over-the-top romantic make-up. It was a world that had to be put on hold when Ross had to get back to New York.

Stepping into Central Perk, he didn't see his usual friends occupying the orange couch. Instead, he seen the group of three guys and three girls that was dubbed the next generation by Gunther. Ross made his order to go at the counter and he couldn't help but to overhear what that group was talking about. A small smile crept to his face as he could hear the girls trying to persuade the guys to teach them how to play poker. When the guys told the girls no, the memories poured out as Ross recalled when his group friends played poker.

Their first game was interesting while attempting to teach the girls and the second was pure fun, but he didn't expect the third game to higher the stakes. The memory crept in Ross' mind as he recalled his big showdown with Rachel. After seeing her face when she got the word that she didn't get the job that would set her foot in the fashion industry, Ross, being in love as he was for her back then, couldn't help but think that he made her day when she defeated him in poker. And even better yet, at a high stakes hand. That act perpetuated Ross to a definite understanding that he would do anything to cheer her up whenever something crappy happened. He already knew that fact, but seeing it being put to action made him feel surer about it. Ross always wanted to see her happy and content. It was a job that Ross chose to spend his lifetime doing.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Laying in bed and staring at the ceiling, Rachel started to feel like the bed was too big for her. One side was missing the warmness of a person in particular and when it was just the two of them, she felt like the size was perfect. She had grown accustomed with Ross sleeping by her side that she felt awkward when she would feel nothing on her right side. To accommodate herself, she placed a long pillow on the space where Ross would usually occupy. It was a temporary substitution for Ross and that was the best she could come up with so far.

It has been a couple of days since Ross left, but to her, it felt like yesterday and the emotions were still fresh. When Rachel returned to her apartment, she was well aware of the fact that it felt so strange being there with Ross gone. Sadness was obviously plastered on Rachel's face that her daughter even picked up on it. Emma, who you would think would be oblivious, knew right when she saw her daddy walking through the gate, that it would be a while before she saw him again.

There were times when Rachel just wanted to pack up and leave, but a voice within her told her not too. She knew who it belonged to. It was Ross'.

Sometimes Rachel felt so alone, living in a foreign place after cozily settling in New York for a decade. The only thing that was keeping her from feeling totally alone was Emma, that precious little girl who understood her mother's sadness and sweetly reminded her that she still had her. Rachel didn't really feel the need to go out anywhere whenever Claudia would offer. She would be perfectly content with spending the night in, watching movies and staying with her daughter. Life, just like her first week there, was definitely in full force once again.

Often times she wished that Ross didn't encourage her to take the job. She was definitely feeling it now. She still hasn't come to a full understanding on why he did what he did. Sure, he explained it, but it still amazed her on what selfless acts Ross would do for others, even if he would also be in the receiving end. More of the reasons to love him even more.

Thinking and analyzing, she came to a conclusion that he must've done it because it was his way of showing her that he supported her career. She knew that he does support her in everything she does, but for him, it was a way of showing that he sincerely does. He definitely wanted this time around to succeed and that meant that he had to go back and trace to a point of time when the relationship started to have problems. Tracing back, she could pinpoint that part of the reason why they broke up the first time was because of the conflict of them spending less time together since she just started a career that she wanted to pursue. It definitely beat working in Central Perk.

They did what they could to try to ease the emotion that they were both feeling, reverting back to the telephone calls and e-mails. Surely, they didn't do the trick but it would have to do for the time being.

Neither Ross nor Rachel wanted the other person to feel guilty for the decision to pursue an opportunity of a lifetime in something that they were dedicated. She didn't know what to expect when Ross came back after his emergency trip from New York. He didn't even tell her what was going on until he returned to Paris, which drove her totally crazy. When he told her about the grant, she was in no doubt happy for him. Not only happiness was running through her body but the fear of failure also started to slowly creep into the back of her mind while Ross was telling her about his plans. Rachel thought that it was enough on their plate to add the Atlantic Ocean, but with more than half of the country also, she couldn't help but have that little thought of uncertainty.

Sometimes she thinks that they're in way over their heads. Sometimes she believes that this is a true challenge for the both of them. An open challenge of being miles away. Either way, she knows that they have to win.

* * *

Sorry...I know that this is not normal for me to write a chapter this short, but I kind of liked how it turned out. Wow, I didn't expect myself to post a chapter this quickly with school back in session. Lucky for you guys! It's going to be a busy weekend for me this week and as usual, it's up in the air when another chapter would be posted. 

So you know the drill, click that little button and drop me a review. It always made my day to read the comments that you folks have. Thanks you guys!


	8. Chapter 8

Challenge Being Miles Away: Chapter 8

**Too tired to come up with another disclaimer, so I'm just gonna say that the same apply.  
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Note about this chapter: I understand that it was revealed that Ross had two birthdays. One mentioned in that episode when Gunther acted like he was compiling a list of birthdays when in fact he just wanted to know about Rachel's and the second time when Ross was at the hospital after breaking his hand when tried to punch Joey in season nine. For this story, I've decided to go for the second mentioned birthday and so, it is now October. Enjoy!

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The morning was clearly present and Ross clearly didn't want to get out of bed. His head was fiercely pounding and he started to regret going out with his colleagues for drinks. How they found out about his birthday, he didn't know but now he felt like he should've done better trying to get out of it.

The night was pretty much a blur and the only thing he could remember was laughing uncontrollably and for practically no reason at all. He doesn't even really remember how he got into his own bed at all because he was certain that he stumbled into his apartment and tripped face first onto his couch. He found that laughable and passed out seconds later on the spot.

Drawing the covers over his head, he then realized that he's not wearing his work clothes from the day before. He noticed that he was in his flannel plaid pants and a NYU T-shirt. Rubbing his eyes, he looked to his right and he noticed that there's a glass of water with aspirin right beside him. Someone obviously took care of him and Ross was baffled on who it could be. It couldn't be any one of his colleagues because they all parted ways in different directions after they left the bar and entered separate cabs for the ride home.

Ross groggily got out of bed and headed towards the bathroom. He was about to turn the knob when it turned itself and the door swung open.

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"Please throw in the towel and go home. You've already got employee of the month and now you're just making us look bad with all the hours you put in." Claudia ordered.

Claudia started to walk towards Rachel to pick her out of her seat but Rachel typed one key and shut down her computer.

Rachel smirked. "Done."

Claudia nodded and smiled. "Come on you, let's go get some drinks."

Rachel shook her head. "Nah, I should get home. Relieve my mother from babysitting duties."

"Your mother is in town?" Claudia incredulously asked.

Rachel nodded. "Yeah and out of the blue."

"That's it, you're definitely coming with me." Claudia took her wrist and started to pull her out of the office before Rachel could solidly protest.

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Actually enjoying herself was something that Rachel surely didn't expect. Drinking rounds of drinks, they traded off stories of their own or other's mishaps and adventures before Paris.

"And then Ross didn't know which knob to face because there was one on both sides, so he got sprayed on his front again."

They were both laughing uncontrollably at this point and got a couple of looks from the workers and customers.

Claudia tried to suck up her breath but found it quite challenging to do so. "I wish I could've seen that."

"Don't worry, I've got a picture here."

Rachel took out the picture from her purse that Chandler had to show to others and Claudia continued to hysterically laugh. The laughter started to simmer down and Rachel took a sip out of her glass.

"Speaking about Ross, what's he up to lately?" Claudia curiously asked.

"Well actually, his birthday is coming up in a few days."

This definitely sparked some interest. "So what are you getting him?"

Rachel shrugged. "I don't know. What do you usually get your boyfriend for their birthday?"

"There's always clothes because you know that you can make them look hot for a formal party in a suit. Cologne because you know that they'll smell good whenever you would go out for a date. Or in your case, since he's a crazed for anything anthropology related, you could get him some type of replica of an ancient specie that has been long gone."

Although Claudia's suggestion was something that Rachel would usually lean towards to, she wanted to make this year's present special. They sat, brainstorming for ideas and a thought suddenly occurred to Claudia that she thought Rachel would surely be interested in.

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It was already late and Rachel wanted nothing but to sleep. She looked down at her daughter and stroke her hair as the toddler remained in her sleeping state.

"We're here Ms. Green." The driver announced.

Rachel smiled graciously and picked up the sleeping toddler. The driver opened the door for Rachel and grabbed her duffel bag out of the trunk.

"Do you need help in carrying?"

"No, but thank you Jeff for driving me at this hour."

Jeff shook his head. "That's okay miss, it's my job."

Rachel generously tipped the driver and Jeff graciously smiled.

"Have a good night."

Rachel politely waved and Jeff pulled out.

Rachel really took Claudia's suggestion into consideration and decided that it was a great idea. That's why she was there at this moment. Claudia made a good point and Rachel decided to act on it.

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Rachel rinsed her mouth and wiped it dry. She checked her teeth one last time and walked towards the door. Turning the knob and opening the door, she was startled at first when Ross was standing directly in front of the door, but still put a smile on her face.

"Good morning birthday boy."

Ross closed his eyes and rubbed them. _I must really be having a mean hangover if I'm seeing Rachel in front of me, _Ross thought to himselfHe turned around and started to walk back to his bed, thinking that he should get back to sleep. Now his mind was playing games on him and he couldn't let that happen for the sake of his sanity.

As Ross started to walk away, that threw Rachel totally off. She stood there, completely confused and scratched her head. She started to chuckle, deciding to let him sleep and sober up.

When she got their last night, it was actually quite a funny scene. She found him bent over, with his abdomen on the arm of the couch and his face facing downward on the cushion. How he found that comfortable enough to sleep, she doesn't know but it took her a while to get him to stumble into his bed without waking up Emma or breaking anything in the process.

Rachel's stomach grumbled and she agreed that she should get something to eat.

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Ross opened his eyes and look to the side at his alarm clock. It was now past noon and he decided that he had to get out of bed. Getting out some clothes, he walked towards the bathroom and shook his head in the disbelief as he walked through the door. A vision suddenly flashed into his mind and Ross was sure that he really didn't see Rachel in front of him. To him it was just his mind making that illusion because he was obviously missing her.

Ross exited the bathroom after a quick shower and entered the kitchen, getting something quick to eat. After heating up some left overs, Ross felt like watching the television, so she grabbed his plate and drink into the living room. As Ross was walking towards the couch, he stepped on something solid and cursed.

Ross put his food on the coffee table and looked down to see what he stepped on. He picked up the object and tried to remember when he last saw it. Ross was definitely confused because he remembered that he got that for Emma before he left Paris about two months ago. Besides Hugsie, this was another toy that Emma couldn't leave home without. It was a blue pony that Emma would find comfort in whenever she needed someone to talk to when she was missing her daddy or whenever something that was bothering her. It was a pony that she chose to name Blutty. Ross raised his brow when she told him that and he curiously asked why she chose that name. Emma claimed the reason for the name was because the pony was pretty and since it was blue, she decided the name should be Blutty. When Ross and Rachel laid in bed and was talking about what Emma chose to name the pony, Ross couldn't help but point out the fact that it sounded like booty. Rachel agreed and blamed Ross for it because it was because of him that Emma chose a name close to booty. It was because of Ross rapping to "baby got back" that sparked it.

Sighing, Ross sadly smiled at the object and place it on the coffee table. For his birthday wish, he was definitely wishing that Rachel and Emma was there right now.

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As Rachel stood on the outside of the front door, she had everything planned for the night's activities. Phoebe graciously offered to watch Emma because she saw it as a great opportunity to practice how to handle kids and Monica set up a dinner reservation and VIP table for Ross and Rachel at Javu.

Rachel jiggled the keys into the doorknob and opened the door. She had to use the bathroom, so she told Emma to sit on the couch and play with her pony while she took a quick bathroom break. Emma understandably nodded and Rachel entered the bathroom.

Ross exited the kitchen after washing his dishes. After eating his left overs, he noticed that he's running low on some essential items such as bread, milk, juice, and eggs. He quickly compiled a shopping list and grabbed his keys so he could get the groceries.

Emma was quietly playing with her toy when she saw her father walked by and about to step out of the apartment.

"Happy B-day Daddy!" Emma happily squealed.

Ross turned around, not knowing what to see as he still believed that his mind was still playing games with him. He smiled widely as he watched his daughter slide down the couch and charged down towards him. Ross lowered himself down and Emma threw her arms around his neck, kissing his cheek.

"So you hug and kiss her when she wishes you a happy birthday and I get the big shaft." Rachel teasingly asked.

Ross happily walked towards Rachel after putting Emma down and gave her a deservingly kiss, wrapping his arms around her.

"So I wasn't dreaming after all?"

Rachel shook her head. "No, you wasn't. I actually found it to be quite hilarious when you walked back to bed."

Ross chuckled. "I really thought that I was seeing things and that I was seeing an illusion of you."

Rachel leaned in and kissed him sweetly on the lips, reassuring his disbelief. "Definitely not an illusion."

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Hey guys, so here's chapter eight. I just realized that I have like three weeks of school left, so I know that my professors would like to throw all these things as I approach the end of the school year. After all of the chaos from school is over, I can happily focus my creative drive on this fic and we'll see how it progress during the summer. So what do you think about this chapter? Liked it, loved it, or simply hate it, drop a review anyway. Thanks again :)


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